Kelly Clarkson Shares Valuable Lesson She's Learned About Motherhood in Therapy
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Brian Bowen Smith for Variety Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson is learning to share her true emotions around her kids.
In a new cover story interview with Variety published Wednesday, the musician and talk show host, 40, opened up about being vulnerable with her kids River Rose, 8, and Remington Alexander, 6, especially when it comes to discussing her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.
"I think the most important thing I've learned in therapy, especially through this divorce, is 'Don't hide everything from your kids. Obviously, don't talk about stuff that you shouldn't talk about, but it's okay if they see you cry, or it's okay if they see you've had a bad day,' " she told the outlet.
"You start to feel that kind of shame, like, 'I've got to put my best foot forward as a mom because I don't want them to be affected.' But then you allow your kids to express empathy, and they learn how to say, 'Oh, man, I'm sorry you had a hard day.' "
The "Stronger" singer split from Blackstock, 45, in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in March.
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kellyclarkson/Instagram Kelly Clarkson with son Remington and daughter River
Speaking of her experience with "mom guilt," Clarkson noted she feels "very fortunate" that she has the "means" to see her kids as often as she does.
"My mom, I did call her once — this was years ago — and I was like, 'Do I see my kids enough?' And she was like, 'Oh, my God, Kelly, you see your kids way more than I saw you!' A lot of people don't have the means, so I'm very fortunate," she shared.
"The scheduling can get tricky, but I have such a great team: Everyone at NBC is amazing, and everybody wants everyone to be successful. It's really helpful to have that type of unity in your environment at work," Clarkson continued. "There are a lot of parents at the talk show and at The Voice and at my label. And there are a lot of women."
Brian Bowen Smith for Variety Kelly Clarkson
Clarkson also shared that she made the decision to push back the time of her eponymous NBC talk show so that she could drop her kids off at school.
"This season, we pushed everything back 30 minutes. I made that call so that I can take my kids to school," she said. "And then my nanny picks them up. At least I have the mornings with them, and then I have nights with them."
The singer recently spent her first summer off in over 20 years, spending time in the Montana mountains with her two kids.
"It's obviously been a rough couple of years so it was really important to me to shut down for a minute," Clarkson said on a recent episode of Today.
"It was nice because [the kids] usually have to travel a lot because of our separation so we were both in Montana," she added. "I felt like the first time my kids felt a little more centered as well."
