Inside The Muscat Household: Prime Minister And Family On Homework Duties, Domestic Tiffs And Twins’ Public Life Ambitions
Photo: Partit Laburista
He may run the country by day, but it seems Prime Minister Joseph Muscat returns home to a very regular household at night.
In an interview on ONE last night, Muscat and his family spoke at length about domestic issues – from how he and his wife Michelle correct their daughters’ homework every night, to how Muscat has grown frustrated with his wife’s habit of leaving candles lying around the house, to how the Prime Minister has taken to feeding his new dog Ħabiba from his own dinner portions.
“Etoile and Soleil started secondary school this year, so their homework has become harder and more complicated,” Muscat said. “In fact, when I leave Parliament in the evening, I now tell myself that the tricky part is about to come! There’s some division of labour on homework duties, with myself correcting the girls’ maths and science homework and Michelle correcting their languages. However, the problem is that my generation was taught maths in a completely different manner to the way it’s being taught now, so I must first learn the teaching method, then test myself and then correct their homework!”
The interview with Joseph Muscat and his family starts at 29:55
Asked about domestic disputes, Muscat said the one thing Michelle and he have no common ground on is Michelle’s habit of decorating the house with candles.
“I cannot stand candles and I’ve warned her that the house will catch fire one day,” Muscat said. “In fact, once there was a small accident which she tried to cover up…”
“No, that was you fault,” Michelle interjected. “You thought something had caught fire, which it hadn’t, and you ended up knocking the candle over and causing the flames to spread!”
“A year ago, the candle hit Baby Jesus in the crib, and I ended up grabbing the statuette and rushing to the yard,” Muscat said with a laugh. “I absolutely cannot stand candles!”
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his dog Ħabiba. Photo: Instagram
With regards the latest addition to the household, the chow chow Ħabiba, Muscat said he has developed a protocol whereby he eats dinner with two forks – one for himself and one for the dog.
“She’s got used to it now. She has to sit down still next to me while I’m eating dinner and eat off my fork. When I’m done, I tell her ‘baħħ’ (It’s empty) and she understands me and leaves!”
Asked whether he would encourage his daughters to enter politics in the future, the Prime Minister said he would, but only after they’ve completed their studies in Malta and overseas.
“Both of them have actually already told me that they want to get involved, not necessarily in politics, but in public life,” he said. “After they graduate, then yes, I will encourage them to enter public life, but they focus on their studies first!”
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