Gurmit Singh's family enjoys new member

Gurmit Singh's family enjoys new member

SINGAPORE - In Everybody's Business, Gurmit Singh's a straight-laced family man with a wife and son.

In real life, the 48-year-old's family just expanded to five, thanks to new addition Mikaela, who arrived in February.

The local actor-host and his wife Melissa, 43, have two children, Gabrielle, 16, and Elliot, 12.

The children, he said, have taken to their new sibling very well.

"They'd always been hoping for a third one. Now, they can't get enough of her.

"My daughter wanted to adopt my baby," he said.

The siblings even argue over who gets to hold her first after they return from school.

"Because of their ages, we realise we are subconsciously teaching them how to be parents as well," he said.

The children, he said, marvel at things like their dad or mum waking up at 3am to feed or change five-month-old Mikaela.

Gabrielle's even learnt how to change a diaper, although the children are not officially on diaper duty yet. Being parents in their 40s has not been too challenging for the couple though.

"I joke now that I feel like a father again, but I also feel like a grandfather," he said with a laugh.

He said that the essentials of parenting came back to them naturally.

"It's like cycling. We never forgot it.

"But we are coming to this with a bit more wisdom, maturity and experience. We're more zen now."

A dream

"We don't jump every time Mikaela cries."

What he almost forgot, however, was the middle-of-the-night wake-up calls.

But like his other children, Mikaela has been a dream to look after.

After three months, she's been sleeping nine to 11 hours at night - something most new parents can only dream of.

Gurmit added: "Neighbours and friends always tell me 'Wah, she's always smiling'. She's a very happy child, like the first two. They were all happy babies," he said.

Which begs the question - will there be another happy baby in the future?

Smiling, he said: "See how lah."


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