Jesse Tyler Ferguson is aware that he and his husband, Justin Mikita, can be “overbearing” parents to their two sons Beckett, 4, and Sullivan, 2.
“I love seeing Beckett and Sullivan’s early connection and seeing them play together, and also seeing them kind of like, collectively develop opinions about Justin and I,” Ferguson, 49, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting his partnership with Tovala. “You know, we’re a little overbearing at times, and we want to hug them and snuggle them.”
He added, “Collectively, they’re both like, ‘OK, enough, back up and together we’re deciding that you guys are a little overwhelming.’ I love that they’re kind of already, like, drawing a line in the sand together about us. That’s really sweet. I love that they’re gonna have each other for their whole lives.”
The Modern Family alum and Mikita, 39, welcomed Beckett and Sullivan via surrogates in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Ferguson, in particular, is glad that his two boys have each other to lean on.
“I love my siblings,” Ferguson, who has a brother and a sister, told Us. “It’s so great having people who are around my age, who can, like, commiserate with me about my crazy parents. That’s just so important.”
Beckett and Sullivan’s early bond has also affected how the family of four celebrates the holidays.
“We’re sort of figuring it out as we go along. I like the idea of them having their own little Christmas tree to decorate,” Ferguson said. “We’re gonna put the tree in their [playroom] this year so that in case it’s a really ugly tree, we can just shut the door. I am all about aesthetics.”
He added, “They’re decorating their own tree. It’s gonna be in their own little space.”
Beckett is also very excited about the forthcoming arrival of Santa Claus.
“Beckett’s really into Santa. In fact, we had a Christmas party last year, and Santa did come to visit and Beckett was extraordinarily excited for Santa to be in his house and wanted to show Santa his playroom, wanted to show Santa his bedroom,” Ferguson recalled to Us. “I was terrified of Santa when I was a kid, like, I did not want to sit on the stranger’s lap. Beckett has just embraced Santa. Sullivan, I’m not so sure yet [whether] he will be … you know, he didn’t even like us in Halloween costumes. We came out in our Halloween costumes this year, and he’s like, ‘Take them off.’ So, we’ll see how Santa goes.”
Beckett and Sullivan also have very different dietary palettes, so Ferguson — the primary chef for the Ferguson-Mikita brood — turns to the Tovala Smart Oven to cook meals they all enjoy.
“I am super busy now that I have two kids; I have this [‘Dinner’s on Me’] podcast,” he said. “Sometimes, I need to make meals for my family [and] I need to do something easy. I love that it makes dinnertime, you know, time I don’t need to stress about.”
He added, “I don’t love just throwing in a microwave meal. … It can be healthy or it could be a little naughty, like, their desserts are also delicious. So I love that. It sort of gives me the options to eat healthy when I want to and eat a little more luxuriously what I want to, and also tastes incredible.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams