Nick Cannon Is Preparing to Tell Son, 6, Kids He's Met Are His Siblings: 'Nobody Talks About It'
The TV personality is opening up about tackling the subject of his unconventional family structure with his kids
Nick Cannon is tackling tough discussions with his kids.
Appearing on The Language of Love with Dr. Laura Berman, the father of 12 discussed his vision for his family and communicating with each of his kids about their unconventional blended family.
"In your dream world, regardless of whether you're romantically involved or not romantically involved with the mothers, all your children will know each other. All of your children will come together, go on trips together or outings together," Dr. Berman asked Cannon, 42.
"Yes," he confirmed. "They're all Cannons. They'll probably go to the same schools and all that."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cannon shared that has yet to get all of his kids together because "as much as that may be a wish of mine, I've got to respect that's not a wish of everyone's."
"I think that we'll get there. One of the things I've witnessed from some of my elders in the game, once the children get of age to make their own decisions, it'll happen," the Wild N' Out host, explained.
"Because they're currently under their mothers' jurisdiction, I'm trying to play by the moms' rules. But once they can make their own decisions, I would hope and pray that we'll have established a strong enough relationship that they'll want to come hang out with me."
Noting he's already had some of the hard conversations with 12-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan, he likes to keep dialogue "very open" between himself and the tweens.
Cannon also revealed he's in conversation with Brittany Bell — with whom he shares daughter Powerful Queen, 2½, and sons Rise Messiah, 9 months, and Golden Sagon, 6 — about filling in their oldest about the scope of Cannon's family tree.
"I think right now is the time to start having, and this has been a family debate, about when to have the full and honest discussion with the six-year-old because he's a genius," he said.
"I think he's kind of already figured it out. He knows he has other siblings. Even within his own house, he's not an only child," Cannon continued. "He knows about his older siblings. He's been around the younger ones. He's been around them, just nobody talks about it. It's not like, 'This is your brother or your sister.'"
"And I think the school that he's in, he's on the internet. He knows his dad is known for having a lot of kids," he noted, though he said the second grader has never asked.
"The time is now before another kid at the school says [something]," he suggested. "But I think it's not going to be a difficult conversation."
Asked what he would tell him that he feels is age-appropriate, Cannon said, "You know daddy already has a lot of kids. And you're special, I appreciate our bond, but I also have other relationships that have produced other children that I love dearly as well."
"And I'd ask him how he feels about it," the dad said. "I had to have that conversation with my 12-year-olds. Part of it was like 'yay' but it was also like 'well what about me?'"
Cannon recalled Monroe asking, "You love me the most right?"
He conceded, "You are my firstborn, you are unique."
"You find something that you can have that's just theirs. I think every child wants that," he explained. "But I also believe there's going to be some feelings they don't even share with me right away. 'I wish I would have had a different scenario or different upbringing' And when those things are brought up, we deal with them."
In addition to his older twins, whom he shares with Mariah Carey and three kids with Bell, Cannon is also dad to 2-year-old twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir and daughter Beautiful Zeppelin, 7 months, with Abby De La Rosa; son Legendary Love, 11 months, with Bre Tiesi; and daughter Onyx Ice Cole, 9 months, with LaNisha Cole.
Additionally, he's dad to two children with Alyssa Scott: son Zen — who died at 5 months old in December 2021 after being diagnosed with brain cancer — and daughter Halo Marie, 6 months.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
