Finding our family rhythm

“I worked as a vocalist on the hit TV show Dancing With The Stars for 12 years and had both my babies during this ridiculously busy time. In fact, I went back to one of the seasons of Dancing With The Stars only three weeks after my second son was born. I remember pumping milk in the back lots of the TV studios in between rehearsal… so glamorous! I would come home late at night with my bottles of breast milk and fall into a heap.

When the boys were only two and eight months old I auditioned for The Voice and made it through to Joel Madden’s team. We attended the blind audition as a family. During those crazy few months David had to take some time off work to allow me the chance to follow my dreams.

I’ve also sung and toured with some incredible performers such as Hugh Jackman and John Farnham. When I’m  juggling the routine of home life with gig life things can get crazy at home. David and I have to be super organised and work as a real team. If I’m away touring David will work from home and take care of the boys, but I’ll always send them videos of my hotel room or the newest venue I’m performing at, which they love because they feel I’m not too far away. We are always open to making changes to our day-to-day routines to allow for new opportunities that may come up for any of us.

When I was little my Dad was often given the option to work overtime, and many times he had to take the extra work due to hard financial times. But, in times where we were doing OK and getting by he would knock back the extra work to come home and spend more time with me. I loved the quality time we got to spend together and I remember that he chose spending time with me over making money whenever he could. I try to remember that myself when things get very busy and I really pick and choose the work that I take. I always make sure that I spend as much quality time with them as I can.

Despite the unpredictability of my work schedule, we try to have a family movie night each weekend. This usually consists of watching iconic old movies like Ghostbusters, or James Bond. We snuggle up on the couch and have popcorn with lots of butter and ice-cream. It’s a great time to cuddle up to one another and have a laugh (or cry!) depending on the movie.

The boys are very active and energetic. Anthony is a very gentle and empathetic soul and loves everything from football to playing the drums. Sebastian is the total opposite – energetic, strongly opinionated and cheeky – but still loves reading, singing and playing the keyboard. Despite their opposite personalities they’re very close. Anthony is now 10 but still refuses to sleep in his own room as he spent much of his younger years sharing with Sebastian. They chat and laugh until they fall asleep, and I’ll often hear Anthony giving Sebastian advice about things that are happening in his life while they are chatting in their beds. It’s very sweet to hear their conversations.