That camping trip your family still talks about? Science says it’s worth more than any toy under the tree.
John C. McGinley’s son is as big a fan of Christmas as anyone.
The 66-year-old actor, best known for his role as Perry Cox in “Scrubs,” shares a 28-year-old son, Max, who was born with down syndrome, with his ex-wife Lauren Lambert.
He also shares two daughters, Billie, 17, and Kate, 15, with his current wife Nichole McGinley.
In an interview with People, published Nov. 30, John C. McGinley opened up about the Christmas traditions his son loves most, and the one tradition McGinley describes as his own “guilty pleasure.”
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"Maxie loves Thanksgiving, but he goes out of his mind for Christmas," the actor said of his son.
"We put a tree in the big room, it looks like Rockefeller Center. It's a guilty pleasure of mine, and it's way too expensive and silly, but it makes everybody happy," he added.
McGinley went on to credit his wife for bringing the tree to life with her lighting efforts.
"Nichole puts these miniature lights around [the tree], almost 4,000 lights. It takes her a day and a half putting these strands,” he said of the tradition.
As for the ornaments, the couple opt for non-glass ornaments in the off chance that Max accidentally drops one while hanging them on the tree — another tradition the family enjoys come Christmas time.
"It was a tactile fine motor skill exercise for Maxie at first to get the hook on the branches,” McGinley told People. "Now he can do it in his sleep.”
John C. McGinley reveals his biggest Christmas fail of all-time
McGinley’s comments echo what he said in an interview with People late last year.
He described his family’s process of putting up a Christmas tree as a “well-oiled machine” and said having ornaments that don’t break means it’s “no big deal” if one falls.
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As for his two daughters, he described them as rather “petulant” when it comes to the tree.
“You don't seem to want to be involved in this year. Fine. Go sit in the dunce corner and put the dunce cap on. But we're doing this with or without you. We're going to dress the tree,” he said of Billie and Kate.
But when it comes to gift-giving for Christmas, McGinley admits that his children have won the battle.
One year, the proud father of three attempted to initiate a new rule where his children got one big present instead of a large “number of tchotchkes.” Unfortunately, his family wasn’t too fond of the idea.
“It failed miserably. It was something I tried to introduce with vigor, and I got run over, so I surrendered,” he told People in 2024.
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“People in my house want a lot of presents, and I've gotten out of the way of that. Get all the presents you want. I don't care,” he added.
