Fantasy League

With Two Kids And A Booming Business, Michelle Staffords GH Drama Is A Welcome Break From Reality

- Mara Levinsky

It’s been a rocky year for Michelle Stafford’s GH alter ego, Nina, whose beloved brother, Nathan, was killed in the line of duty and whose marriage to Valentin fell apart. But there is a bright spot on the horizon, courtesy of the recent reveal that the baby Nina was carrying at the onset of her 20-year coma survived her mom’s long nap.

Given that Nina’s fondest wish has been to be a mother, a possible reunion with her daughter “would kind of fix all her problems,” Stafford notes. “But my guess is that she’d have more from it. I did that with kids: I cried forever, ‘I want kids, I want kids!’ And now I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what was I complaining about?’ ”

The actress’s children, Natalia, 8, and Jameson, 2, are unquestionably the apple of her eye, but raising them — especially as a single mom — has brought its fair share of challenges. An average day in the Stafford household is, in her words, “on a scale of 1 to 10, a 15” in terms of craziness. “They fight all the time and they cry all the time — and they’re snuggly and beautiful and loving all the time. They’re so smart and so assertive, which makes it harder on me, because they’re not docile. Especially Jameson. My daughter was so assertive that I thought, ‘Oh, okay, I’m going to get a poet! A sweet, sweet poet.’ No, I got more of a lunatic [laughs]!”