Tom Arnold's children want to be cops
Tom Arnold's children want to be police officers when they grow up because they have "seen so many" cops as a result of his bitter divorce.
Tom Arnold's children want to be police officers because they have "seen so many" cops as a result of his bitter divorce.
The 66-year-old actor and Ashley Groussman- who have Jax, 12, and 10-year-old Quinn together - split acrimoniously in 2019 with subsequent drama as a result of a high-profile custody dispute and restraining order filings, and the Flintstones star admitted his kids have "seen a lot" of negativity.
He told People magazine: “My kids both want to be cops because they have seen so many police. From the time they were very young, they’ve seen a lot of this stuff.”
But Tom is thankful in some ways that his children are unable to "romanticise" their lives before their parents got divorced.
He said: “My kids have never seen their mom and I hug or have any kind of thing like that.
"Which is actually better in a lot of ways, because some families have divorces and the kids have idealised, romanticised what that life was like when mom was sitting over there. Dad's sitting over there and it makes it harder.”
Tom's own traumatic childhood with a "crazy" mother and drug-dealing sister has made him take a different approach with his own kids.
He said:“You know, I had a crazy mother who left our family when I was four.
“My little sister was the biggest drug dealer in America. And I blame my mom 'cause she made her get married at 14 to do all this stuff.
"My dad never said anything when my mom would show up at the house drunk and do insane stuff and knock down a Christmas tree. He would just laugh.
"I knew she wasn't a mother. Like, who is this woman that comes over once every three months and does this stuff?
“Today, when something really inappropriate happens in front of kids, I'll go, ‘Okay, that wasn't okay. I don't treat people like that. I don't want you to treat people like that.' "
The Roseanne actor admits fatherhood isn't easy but he's proud of his children and they have a "very solid" relationship.
He said: “We drive 70 minutes to school every day. One day we'll be able to afford to rent a house closer to the school. That's always our goal. But it's great. The kids don't complain. I certainly get a lot out of it. It's the best thing I've ever done.
“My kids are doing great, we're very solid.
"I love talking about the kids. It gives me a lot of joy and self-esteem. It's a great life.”
Tom channelled his divorce struggles into a comedy tour called My Crazy Ex-Wife and he has the full support of his son and daughter.
He said: “My kids come on the road to help me. Especially my son, because I hurt my back. I have spinal stenosis. I think it may be an old person thing where your spine closes around your nerves. It's very annoying.
“I'm so proud of my son. He’s in sixth grade and very smart. I'd look over at the side of the stage and he'd be sitting there watching and afterwards he'd say, ‘I have notes. You forgot this one joke.' I'm like, ‘Thank you, son.’”
