Proceeding with caution. Jana Kramer took things slow while introducing boyfriend Ian Schinelli into her children’s lives.
“I met him at a kid’s birthday party, so he technically met my kids [there],” the One Tree Hill alum, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, February 22, of Jolie, 6, and Jace, 3, while promoting her upcoming single, “Your Story.”
Since the 36-year-old fitness trainer has a “sweetheart” daughter of his own, the couple had discussions about “integrating” their children into each other’s lives.
“It was easier because I was able to be like, ‘Hey, Jolie, remember that jump house place we went to? And there was the guy that Mommy was talking to, and he had a girl your age?’” the actress recalled. “I was like, ‘Want to have a playdate with her?’ We just had playdates and eventually, they would ask, ‘Can Ian come over? He’s really fun.’ I’m like, ‘Do you want him to come over? I can call him.’ So we did it like that. It was always Jolie’s idea to have him over. It was never like, ‘Oh, Ian’s here.’”
The songwriter’s youngest child even asks about him “in the morning … [when] he wakes up” sometimes, the Soccer Mom Madam star added. “I’m like, ‘He’s not here, but do you want to call him?’ It’s sweet.”
The Michigan native, who shares her daughter and son with ex-husband Mike Caussin, noted that she and Schinelli don’t “kiss around the kids or anything like that.”
The pair went public with their relationship in December 2021, eight months after the “Beautiful Lies” singer filed for divorce from the retired professional football player, 34.
Kramer told Us on Tuesday that she considers herself to be “very protective” of Jolie and Jace, which led her to become “so upset” when a previous beau showed up at her house unannounced.
“I was dating this one guy … and we had gone out on a few dates,” the Friday Night Lights alum said. “He, like, surprised me, and I was like, ‘What are you doing here? I have kids. … You can’t just show up at my house.’”
Now that Kramer is dating Schinelli, she does see herself “getting engaged and married again” — but conceiving a third child is “off the table.”
The Dancing With the Stars alum explained, “Gosh, I’ll be 39 this year. It [would] have to happen quick, and I don’t want to push anything. I’m happy with my family of three.”
In fact, “Your Story” is an homage to Kramer’s bond with her two children, which she places “at the forefront of everything” she does. The single drops on Friday, February 25.
Kramer gushed to Us, “They can have this [song] as a piece to just remember the love that I have for them and continue to have for their dad as well. … Their mom and dad didn’t work out, but they’re still going to be OK and loved.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
