We all have our beloved holiday traditions and the things that we look forward to most at this time of year – decorating the house, cooking and baking, shopping and wrapping presents.

But for legendary singer, Patti LaBelle, 74, her favorite part of the holiday season is truly all the extra quality time that she gets to spend with loved ones, namely her two beautiful granddaughters!

Family First

Patti LaBelle has undeniably built an iconic career over the past 50 years, including the sale of more than 50 million records, being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame, two Grammy Awards, and countless other accolades.

But for this living legend, she finds true happiness not from awards or accolades, but from spending time with her family, cooking for her loved ones, and hosting the holiday festivities.

In a recent interview with People Magazine, LaBelle shared that becoming a grandmother to Gia, 3, and Laila, 1, has completely changed the holidays for her – in a wonderful way, saying with pride, “This is the little one’s first Christmas.”

LaBelle described to People how all bets are off when it comes to her granddaughters; they tend to rule the roost and their happiness is LaBelle’s number one priority, “Any day that they come to my house, they take my jewelry, they play with everything, they break things, and I thought that I would have a fit. I don’t mind! I let the kids get away with things that I would never let anybody get away with. I would let them make a fool of me on holidays.”

LaBelle recently shared a photo of her beautiful granddaughters on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqZJmNlOhP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

It seems that LaBelle’s granddaughters also get special treatment when it comes to helping her in the kitchen around the holidays. Even though LaBelle hosts around 20 people for Thanksgiving and nearly 150 people for Christmas, she prefers that all family members stay out of her kitchen – all family members except for her granddaughter Gia, that is.

“The kids come over and whenever I’m doing anything in the kitchen, Gia, the oldest one wants to help. And I would let her help, and she gets her little dirty hands in stuff and I would have to cook it and eat it.”

Aside from the exception of Gia, LaBelle firmly believes that there is truth behind the saying, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’, but in LaBelle’s mind, saying, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen spoils the broth’ is more appropriate.

This is because LaBelle has her holiday recipes down to a science and she doesn’t want any family members messing with her recipes, “Just cut up some onions or stuff for me like on the side and leave the kitchen. Let me just cook and prepare everything by myself.”

LaBelle is the perfect example of a strong, independent woman who can do it all on her own – well, with the help of two very beautiful granddaughters, of course!

What are your favorite holiday traditions? Do you let your grandkids do things that you wouldn’t let other people do? Share your thoughts and join the conversation below!