Kim Kardashian got brutally honest about the difficulties of single motherhood after her divorce from Kanye West.
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As I’m sure you’ll know, in the decade they were together, Kim and Ye welcomed four children: North, 10, Saint, 8, Chicago, 6, and Psalm, 5. And since their 2021 split, Kim has been vocal about taking on the brunt of parenting duties as they navigate life as coparents.
In 2022, Ye revealed that Kim takes care of the kids 80 percent of the time while he covers the remaining 20 percent. Notably, Kim said during a Season 4 episode of The Kardashians that her older kids often compare her and Kanye’s parenting approaches, saying that their dad’s scaled-back home is “the best,” even though they spend less time with him.
After the aftermath of Kimye’s split, coparenting was a major source of contention between the exes. Since then, Kim has talked openly about balancing her busy schedule with the demands of motherhood.
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In the latest episode of The Kardashians, the Skims founder opens up about reaching a breaking point without the “support” she needs.
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“I am a single mom of four. And it is wild,” she says in her confessional. “I almost feel like my kids have this radar where they know that I’m doing something really important.”
Throughout the episode, Kim emphasizes that she struggles to set firm boundaries with her kids, saying: “I don’t know why I don’t have it in me to be super strict.”
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“Neither one of my parents were strict. Khloé is a lot better at being stricter. I wish I was more like that,” she continues. “I’m just one person, and it’s overwhelming. Just, how do I go about doing this all?”
During a phone call on her way to jury duty, Kim vents to a friend about her “troubling week” with the kids, confessing that she locked herself in the bathroom to escape them while attempting to complete an interview.
Instagram: @kimkardashian
“I just can’t do it anymore. I just need to get away,” she says on the phone. “Anything in the home is just a little chaotic right now.”
“I had a Zoom interview at the house with all my kids there, banging on the door, just screaming. And I was literally hiding in a bathroom with the door locked because I was just like, I can’t believe this. I mean, I can believe it, but that’s, like, my biggest nightmare,” she adds. “I’m open to anything at this point because I can’t live like this.”
Admitting that it “sucks” that she doesn’t have “support,” Kim circles back to her struggles with strictness. Presumably referring to North, she tells her friend: “I took her phone, and after a day, I gave it to her. I’m such a pushover. But I took it for 24 hours.”
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In her confessional, Kim doubles down on how Khloé can implement strict boundaries as a mom to her two kids, 6-year-old True and 1-year-old Tatum, who she shares with Tristan Thompson.
Instagram: @khloekardashian
“Sometimes it gets a little intense. I wanna be more strict like Khloé, but I don’t know why I have a hard time just saying ‘no is no,’” she says. “I think I also don’t wanna deal with the whining and the tears of not getting their way… I just have to be like, ‘I don’t care if you’re going to throw a tantrum in front of everyone right now. The answer’s no.’”
“I’ll always be there for my kids, and I will ride out anything with them,” she concludes. “But, to say that it doesn’t take an emotional toll sometimes would be lying… Managing four kids and a household when they’re not getting along and they all want different things, and I’m only one person.”
Last season, Kim was forced to acknowledge the assistance she receives from nannies and chefs in her home after facing backlash for saying on Jay Shetty’s podcast that she raises her kids “with no one there” to help.
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“I think I’m still learning how to be a single parent,” she said during a Season 4 episode. “Obviously, having nannies and a chef to help cook is beyond helpful. It’s all about family and enjoying these moments. It takes a village to raise kids, but at the end of the day, your kids only want you.”
She added: “The struggles that my kids go through really have nothing to do with the amount of help that I have.”
