"The children are seemingly as normal as normal can be under pretty extraordinary circumstances," says Adam Streisand, the lawyer who represents Katherine Jackson and a frequent visitor to the compound where she lives with the children. He provided an account of life inside their guarded world in an interview with The Associated Press.The large Jackson family, including eight of Michael's siblings and their families, has been a source of emotional support for the children, who frequently play with their cousins, Streisand says. And over the past year, Michael Jackson's parents, children and siblings have moved on with their lives in a world with his music but without him.
The three youngsters have seen Michael Jackson's final concert movie, "This Is It," but their grandmother, still devastated by the death of her son last June 25, has not watched it.
In an interview with London's Daily Mail, published Sunday, Katherine Jackson said she misses her son every day but sees his spirit in his three children, whom she is raising "a little less strict" than her son would have.
Prince, whose birth name is Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., is the eldest of Michael's children. At 13, he has developed an interest in filmmaking, and his brother, sister and cousins have been starring in their own home movies.
"They have props and sets, and one of them acts as director. They all have roles," says Streisand. Recently, a snippet of film was leaked to YouTube showing Paris and Blanket in what might have been scenes from one of their movies. Katherine Jackson told the Daily Mail that Paris, who has a photo shrine to her father on her wall, wants to be an actress.
The one disturbance that brought social workers to the home, in March, stemmed from the kids' moviemaking, Streisand says. Jermaine's son, Jafar, 13, saw an Internet ad for a stun gun. He bought it by mail, thinking it would be a prop for their movies. When he tried shooting it into a towel, security guards came running. No one was injured.
