At Home with the Preston-Travolta Family
The life Kelly Preston and John Travolta have created together is as ideal as a Norman Rockwell painting, but that’s not to say they don’t have their challenges – like any other family.

The Balancing Act
Preston is a working mom who knows how to go with the ebb and flow of her life. A typical day will find her balancing work and family like any other parent, but she knows when it’s vital to focus on family. “Right now I haven’t worked a lot because I had Ella and she’s 2, and I really wanted to spend a lot of time with her,” she says. Preston is reading scripts and awaiting the release of A View from the Top, a film she co-starred in with Gwenyth Paltrow that will be out in October 2002. She admits that life as a working mom can be tough. “It’s a challenge, absolutely, for any working mother. It’s a challenge for any working parent. Even as a dad going to work, you miss the heck out of your kids. You’re trying to figure out, ‘If I get home from the office at this time, I can do this…’ Even if you don’t go to the office, you’ve still got a lot of work.”

When she’s on location shooting a film, life gets really hectic, but it all works out. “It’s bizarre, but I have an assistant, so that helps, and we have an office, and that helps,” she says. “Everybody’s working full time. The kids come with me. Johnny and I fly back and forth, and you know, we just make it work.”

Party of Five
Preston and Travolta didn’t plan to have their children eight years apart, but it ended up that way, and they love it. “With Jett, he was so loving being the only one. And we worshiped and adored him,” she says. “He was our little prince, and we were also working a lot. We want to be able to give everything to our kids, and so there was a just a perfect time, of, ‘OK we can’t wait too long.’”

The gap in her children’s ages works to the family’s advantage. “I find it easier to have a toddler and an older child. He’s really adorable as an older brother and very sweet with her, and she worships the ground he walks on.”

With two kids in tow, Preston is planning her third. “I want to have another one. I have no idea of when – not soon. I want to work a little more, then I’ll get pregnant again. I’m trying to balance it all. I want it all!”

Preston is actually mothering five children. She and Travolta have taken in three older children, ages 9, 11 and 12, who are friends of the family. “They kind of needed a place to stay,” Preston says. “We have a whole new downstairs apartment and a whole area with bedrooms and a kitchen. They are best friends with the kids and now they’re like brothers and sisters. They’ve been with us for six to eight months, and before that, just really good friends for a long time.”

Preston says the arrangement is a permanent situation, though there are no plans to adopt the children. “I have five kids right now. It’s a pretty crazy household.” Preston notes that the children’s mother helps. “They’re still her kids, but they’re my kids, too. They will come to me for things as well. It’s a lot, but these kids are older, too, so they’re helpful and they’re the sweetest kids on the planet. It’s not like a hard thing or anything, but it’s a handful.”

Raising Fit and Healthy Kids
Preston and Travolta are raising their children to be as healthy as possible. Their lifestyle includes plenty of exercise and lots of nutritious foods. Preston offers her perspective on food for kids. “Really watch wheat and dairy, especially in the beginning digestive stages – the first couple of years. It can play havoc with your intestines and your gut,” she says. “I’m definitely big on giving kids vitamins, very little sugar, no processed junk or cookies. We give them wheat-free, dairy-free cookies, and only organic raisins. Raisins are pesticide pellets because grapes are so highly sprayed. If you’re going to do organic, that’s a really important one to do organic.”

Preston has found an alternative to giving kids candy. “This thing called People Pops. They have no sugars, no chemicals, no aspartame, no dyes,” she says. “They’re lollipops, little hard candies. They’re brilliant as a treat.” Preston is also a fan of protein, and calcium magnesium. “It’s great for relaxing them.”

Time for Mom
Preston keeps fit by chasing after her children. “My kids do gymnastics, so I play around the gym with them,” she says. “I used to be a gymnast, so I run around the gym with my kids.” The family also goes swimming, hiking and biking. “We went biking down at Venice yesterday – all of us – that was really fun.” She also does yoga, three times a week. “I did that all through my pregnancies.”

Preston’s pregnancies went smoothly. “I got a lot bigger with him than with her, just because it was like, ‘Woo! Twenty-four-hour smorgasbord. Free to eat anything I’ve ever wanted in my whole life.’ I gained 49 pounds and I vowed never again. The second time I gained 32, which was a really good weight.” The babies were born healthy: Jett weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces, and Ella weighed in at 9 pounds even.

Preston gave birth without pain-relieving medication both times, though Jett was induced. “It was great, but they used Pitocin without an epidural, and that was a treat. That was fast and furious.”

Ella was born at home. “It was just wonderful. It took 13 hours, midwife attending. We just walked around, my husband and I. We ate, we walked, we laughed. He sort of massaged me and I was just in labor, laboring that whole time.”

Preston didn’t sit in a tub, much to her osteopath’s chagrin. “He was mad at me because he said it would have released some of the pain,” she says. “I did have another osteopath here to help me, too. That’s another thing I would recommend, whether you give birth vaginally or by Cesarean … Babies should have adjustments within the first couple of weeks, regardless of vaginal or C-section. It’s brilliant.” Preston recovered from her births very quickly. “I didn’t do anything special. Lots of loving.”

Time for Dad
Despite actor John Travolta’s busy schedule, Preston says it does not impact the family. In fact, she says he is an incredible father. “He’s always there. He gives them his time and his love. He loves to play.”

Their marriage is an equal partnership – except for when it comes to disciplining the kids. “He has zero discipline in the house. Zero. I’m not a harsh disciplinarian at all but I do give guidelines. I give them freedoms and boundaries, because I think they need that. But Daddy is like, ‘Woo! Let’s do the trampoline at 2 in the morning. Whee!’”

Preston says Travolta is on board for the third baby as well. “At that point, I will have six kids, and if I decide to have another, who knows!”