Most of the time it's the parents who recognise me. They try to tell their kids, 'Look, it's Giselle,' and I say, 'No, no, no, don't ruin this for them,' because I'm usually standing there with my hair sideways and no make-up on. And the kid is saying, 'That is not Giselle. No way. That is some worn-out girl who really needs a bath.'
I know I don't want to do another single-camera show. It's so time-consuming. I did a couple of episodes of 'Whitney' as her mom, but I have been laying low. I love being with my kids and being a mom.
And having a strong family, you know we've lost some members of our family and had some setbacks, but I think a good family and kids all those things I thought at one time... you got to be kidding me... Those things are so important they enable you to go on.
Watching kids go from the age of 9 and 10 to 13 is a big, huge jump. The way they speak, their looks, their attitudes, everything changes as you go from being a little kid to a teenager.
Dinosaurs are the jumper cables to the human mind. Kids can't curb their enthusiasm when they're in a hall of dinosaurs and mammoths and mammoth hunters and trilobites and giant fish that could chomp up a shark. These natural objects in motion and context make kids want to read; you can't stop them from reading and thinking.
I always, always liked children... I was very afraid of them before. Because I never really grew up, I mean, with a lot of little kids around. Even though I am from a kind of Italian family, I never really grew up with a lot of little kids around.
You can be very independent, but admit to wanting somebody close to you and that's what me and my wife have. We don't need each other but we want to be with each other and I think it's important to educate the kids with that.
Probably one of the happiest moments, outside the birth of all of my kids, was the first time we won an Emmy, that the show won an Emmy. That was a big night.
During the week, my days are consumed with school commitments, play-dates and work for Baby Buggy, a nonprofit I started, which collects kids' gear for parents in need. So on weekends, I look forward to uninterrupted time with my family.
I'm not a morning person, but I've become one as the result of having kids. The morning is my private time to spend with my boys.
And then ultimately what I tell the kids is: coaches can give you information, they can give you guidelines, and they can put you in a position. But the only person who can truly make you better is you.
Grammys, American Music Awards, successful albums, I'd pick my kids any day over any of it.
The best kids are going to become the best. But the best thing about it is that you're going to learn lessons in playing those sports about winning and losing and teamwork and teammates and arguments and everything else that are going to affect you positively for the rest of your life.
I remember being an usherette at my local theater very, very early on, selling ice cream and programs - because they're not free in the U.K. - during pantomime season, which was super interesting. It meant a lot of kids, a lot of sweets, a lot of sugar-induced kids.
Just the other day, it seems, the kids were running through the house, slamming doors, breaking glass, making noise. Time goes by so quickly. Sometimes everything seems so fleeting.
I've got to put my kids through school. And I like the security of working every day, which is what television is about.
Also, while I was at Yale, I had a job teaching kids at the museum.
We are not programmed to bury our kids.
The key thing is to educate not just kids but adults about what goes into food. You do that in any way you can, bread machine or not.
I lived in London for a long time, and that's a pretty white town. In Toronto, I just ended up in this circle of indie rock kids who happened to be white, too... Really, it was just when I started getting out there and meeting more people and seeing more fans that I went, 'Oh, actually, I'm not white.'
So I had the opportunity to do what the kids in the Hershey program do, except that the Hershey program lets them do it on such a larger scale, with the regional and national competitions.
I saw my dad doing it and thought to myself, 'I can do that.' I would be backstage watching him and running around the country with him singing to children. He would sing songs that taught children really good morals: like, 'Teaching Peace' was a song he used to sing to kids a lot.
Well, we certainly weren't making a cartoon show for kids. It was a completely different kind of idea.
When I moved to Seattle, I was hanging out with kids who had done drugs, had sex a million times. I look at them now and realize their childhood was taken away.
That goes against what I believe morally. That's adultery, and if I'm accused of that, no, that's not right. I have two kids who see that and remember that and judge me. It didn't happen, and it's not to be reported that way.
I love dancing; my kids love to dance. I think it's just another way for children to learn they can be themselves.
Kids don't know about best sellers. They go for what they enjoy. They aren't star chasers and they don't suck up. It's why I like them.
Kids are the ultimate form of motivation. They're watching. They're mimicking. They're an extension of you. So you have to win.
We're committed to making sure parents have affordable, quality early learning for their kids - there's no question about it.
There are loads of kids out there who haven't got a clue what 'Men Behaving Badly' was; it was such a long time ago. So I'm able to spread my wings a little bit more. I was able to do it on stage over the years. Most directors and producers don't know who I am these days, anyway!
Circulating through the children's ward and seeing terminally ill kids, heads shaved, smiling and having a ball despite the tubes and needles sticking into them, I thought: What do I have to worry about? If God takes me, at least I've lived for 35 years.
I just think you should get married if you want to have some kids.
Because I work with so many people on the east coast, I get some work done before I get the kids up.
My sister and I fought a lot when we were kids. I was the little bratty sister, and she would kind of walk away, not wanting to be associated with me.
I've always been the girl the kids in school would be like, 'What is she wearing?' Then eventually some trends would stick.
There's always going to be a ball up in the air, and what I try to do is make sure that ball is never the kids. If that means sacrificing a social event or having fewer work commitments, it's worth it.
