Goldie Hawn Opens Up About Her Life as a Grandma, Including Her Role as a ‘Short-Order Cook’ (Exclusive)
Goldie Hawn Opens Up About Her Life as a Grandma, Including Her Role as a ‘Short-Order Cook’ (Exclusive)
Eric AnderssonSat, May 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Goldie Hawn Opens Up About Her Life as a Grandma, Including Her Role as a ‘Short-Order Cook’ (Exclusive) -
Goldie Hawn tells PEOPLE about being a grandmother of eight and how she's often her grandkids' "short-order cook"
Hawn is the author of the new children's book, The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1
The Oscar winner and partner Kurt Russell have been together for 43 years
Goldie Hawn has a kitschy sign in her living room that reads, “Many a child is spoiled because you can't spank grandma.”
And unsurprisingly, the Oscar winner, 80, has few rules when it comes to her grandparenting philosophy. “Happiness, joy, the joy of life, playfulness, being there,” she tells PEOPLE in a new cover story.
Hawn and fellow actor Kurt Russell, 75, her romantic partner of 43 years, have a large blended family of four children — actors Oliver Hudson, 49, Kate Hudson, 47, and Wyatt Russell, 39, as well as psychotherapist Boston Russell, 46 — and eight grandchildren, who range in age from 2 to 22.
“Wherever they are, I'm happy,” says the Overboard and Private Benjamin actress, who often finds herself cooking for the younger set.
Goldie Hawn on the cover of PEOPLE MagazineCredit: Peggy Sirota
As for what she whips up? That depends. “Whatever they'll eat. They're all picky. Let me tell you. You feel like a short-order cook. You know what I mean? But I cook breakfast. They like my breakfast.”
They all hold a special place in Hawn's heart — “We're a close family,” she says — and she even thanked her grandchildren for their kindness in the acknowledgments of her first-ever children's book, The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1 (out May 5).
“My grandchildren are mine. So I get to say, 'Okay, I dedicate this,' ” explains Hawn. She and Russell are grandparents to Kate's kids (Ryder, Bingham and Rani Rose), Oliver's children (Bodhi, Wilder and Rio ), and Wyatt's sons (Buddy and Boone).
Goldie Hawn with daughter Kate Hudson and grandkids Ryder and Raini RoseCredit: Kate Hudson Instagram
But she and co-writer Lin Oliver didn't base the characters in her book — fourth graders Mia, Tony and River who help a shelter dog find a home — on her own family.
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“I didn't draw from my grandchildren. There are lots of children in this, and the story is important. Oftentimes, it is not biographical, and I'm not doing anything in regard to my children,” continues Hawn.
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in 2016 with three of their children and five of their grandkidsCredit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
The book (the first in a series of four) incorporates elements of Hawn's mental health initiative MindUP, a program implemented in schools that teaches kids about the parts of their brain and how to regulate their emotions.
“That's what we're doing, trying to give children an ability to have a stronger mental fitness,” says Hawn, whose book teaches about empathy, kindness and joy.
And though Hawn's grandchildren didn't inspire the characters, her 12-year-old granddaughter Rio — the daughter of son Oliver and his wife Erin Bartlett, 53 — did read an advance copy and offer feedback.
“What she loved about the book is it was funny, and it is funny, I have to say,” says Hawn. “Even when I was recording the book.. I did the audio, I laughed.”
The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1 is available May 5.
For more on Goldie Hawn, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
