What Was Michael Jackson Like As A Father?

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1617390/20090731/jackson_michael.jhtml

Producer Teddy Riley recalls how MJ cared for his children in 'Michael Jackson's Human Nature,' airing Saturday at noon ET on MTV.
By Andrew Millard, with additional reporting by Edward Paige

Most of us have memories of Michael Jackson being an electrifying performer. Teddy Riley remembers him as an amazing dad.

Riley became close to Jackson while producing tracks for his Dangerous and HIStory albums. That bond grew stronger while working on songs for 2001's Invincible, when Michael introduced him to his kids for the first time.



"I felt so nervous meeting his children," Riley recalled. "He brought them in and he said, 'I want you to meet Paris and I want you to meet Prince.' And they walk in, playful. And then he was like, 'This is Theodore'. He didn't say Teddy. They were like, 'Hi, Theodore!' And it was just the greatest feeling."

What struck Riley immediately was how much Michael loved his kids and how involved he was in their lives.

"He read them a book every day. When we were in Virginia during the Invincible [sessions], there was not one day missed reading the children something. So that showed me right there that he was an incredible father."

Parenting was a major topic of conversation between Jackson and Riley, who has a family of his own — especially when it came to methods of punishment. This was a sensitive issue for Jackson because of the physical abuse he said he suffered as a child from his father, Joe Jackson.

"He was like, 'I would never have them go through the same things ever in their lives,' " Riley said. "He was like, 'I think the best scolding for children was a time-out.' The best scolding for children was, 'Let's read a book.' "

Although Teddy respected Michael's hands-on approach with his kids, he did think he was kind of a pushover when it came to discipline.

"I have to say this, but his time-outs were not as bad as, you know, our time-outs," he laughed. "They don't go up against a wall and look at the wall for an hour or 10 minutes. He sent them to the bunks with no TV. For me, that's a good time-out. But the kids, they knew what it was."