Gabby Logan Talks Strict Parenting And Trying To Convince Kenny To Have More Babies

Gabby Logan Talks Strict Parenting And Trying To Convince Kenny To Have More Babies

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Sports presenter Gabby Logan and her husband Kenny, former rugby union player, are proud parents to six-year-old twins Reuben and Lois.

We caught up with her for a chat about all things parenthood and her plans for a family-focused Easter - oh, and more babies!

You have boy and girl twins – are they very different personalities?

They're very, very, very different! They're almost like opposites really in terms of their interests. Lois is very much into animals and she loves playing with her teddies and things like that, and Reuben loves his karate and rugby and he's very strong and big and quite physical.

Do they get on well together?

Reuben winds Lois up quite a lot, but she's quite easy to wind up because she's a bit more sensitive. They do play very nicely together, but they'll also fight - a normal sibling relationship.

How did you react when you found out your IVF treatment had resulted in twins?

We were just really thrilled that the IVF had worked and we were pregnant!

Rex Gabby holds Lois, Kenny with Reuben in 2006

Are you planning to have more children?

"I'd love to have another child, but Kenny's not quite as keen as me at the moment, and it's busy for both of us. The children are at an age where I think you have more and more to do with them as they get bigger. So maybe we've missed the boat. I don't know. We'll see!

Would you worry that you would have twins again?

No, because it would be our choice to put one or two eggs back in and I don't think my obstetrician, - because I had a major hemorrhage last time - would like me to do that.

What is your favourite thing to do with the twins?

I love picking them up from school and I love hearing their voices in the morning when they tell you they're awake, or they come through in the morning and tell you about their dream or something.

And the worse?

I miss them when they're at school and I'm at work. I love seeing them afterwards, chatting to them about their day, getting them out of their post-school grump when they're tired and their blood sugar levels are low. Half an hour later, once they've had a snack, they're different people again.

I love all aspects of being a mum really - even the challenging times.

Tell us about the challenging stuff!

Behaviour and getting them to understand other people's feelings so that they don't offend and upset people, by hitting out or whatever. Just general behaviour really and conforming to what society expects of people, which when you're two and three is not always easy to understand.

Are you quite a strict parent?

I'd say I'm fairly strict. I want them to have discipline in their lives in the sense that they have self-discipline. I think it's very hard to discipline yourself if you have never experienced it outside.

You just can't come up with that yourself - knowing what's right and wrong and not tolerating bad behaviour or bad manners. It takes a long time to get through sometimes, but I think it'll be worth it.

Do you and Kenny parent in a very similar way, or is it good cop, bad cop?

We both have our strict moments, but Reuben will say to me things like 'can I earn it back?' after he's lost something, a privilege of some sort, and I might let him, but then he has to earn it back.

He knows that I mean business when I say 'that's it, you've lost this'! He's got to do something to prove to me that he's understood why it was taken away. I think they both know what we both expect.

And what about Kenny?

Quite a lot of the time I work on Saturdays, so Kenny's with them all day, so there's quite a lot of time when it's one of us or the other as opposed to both of us there all the time. That means we have to be quite consistent with each other and back each other up. It's not fair if one person always has to play bad cop.

Tell us about your Tesco Mum of the Year award -why do you think you got the accolade?

It was because of my charity work. I have always done a lot, so it was very nice to be able to talk about the different charities that I've worked with over the last 20 years or so. It's been difficult juggling with having children, but I wanted to maintain the strong links with the charities that I'd worked with for a long time.

So it was really flattering and really humbling to receive an award like that amongst such amazing mums who were given awards on the day.

Were Lois and Reuben mega impressed with your win?

They were so proud! They came to the lunch when I got the award, and they loved the whole day. They'd never been to anything like that, so they just loved the whole day out and lunch and everything.

Do you generally try to keep them away from showbiz stuff?

Kenny and I don't really do showbiz events, apart from things based around the charities we go to, so they've never been exposed to anything like that before. But I felt the Tesco event was important, because it was about mums and it was such a lovely lunch with so many amazing sentiments and speeches about all these amazing mums.

I thought it was appropriate, and they are six and a half now, so they're able to understand a little bit more what was going on, so it was great they were there.

It might be another six years before they go to anything else, but they enjoyed the day!

Are your children sporty like you and Kenny?

I encourage them to do as much activity as possible, I don't like just them spending a day indoors and not getting outside. My son's got to the age where it's almost like routine, he comes home from school, if he hasn't got a club or activity on, he literally will open the door and be out in the garden with a football or something. And my daughter's the same. She'll take the dog outside and try and set up a gymkhana for her, or something!

How will you be celebrating Easter this year?

We're actually flying out on holiday on Easter Sunday! It's a good time in the football calendar for me. Just before the end of the season I always try and have a bit of time away, because then I've got the European Championships and the Olympics.

We will probably be going to the National Trust Easter Egg Hunt at Ham House on Good Friday though, and then we'll have Easter Sunday morning at home, and fly off in the afternoon!

Gabby is encouraging families to have fun this Easter at the Cadbury, National Trust and National Trust for Scotland's annual Easter Egg Trails. To find your local egg trail or for tips and ideas on creating your own trails at home - visit eastereggtrail.com

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