Originally appeared on E! Online
Kim Kardashian is sharing her side.
Three years after her divorce from Kanye “Ye” West was finalized, “The Kardashians” star detailed how the former couple has gone about co-parenting their kids North West, 12, Saint West, 9, Chicago West, 7, and Psalm West, 6.
“I raise the kids full time,” she explained to Alex Cooper during an Oct. 15 episode of “Call Her Daddy.” “They live with me and I welcome a great healthy relationship with my kids and their dad. He knows that. I push for it all the time, but I also protect them when it’s time for that and it goes in waves and phases. It’s a lot of work.”
And while Kardashian maintained that she will allow their four kids to see the “Runaway” rapper “whenever he’ll call,” she admitted that it’s been a while since they’ve seen him.
“It’s probably been a couple months since we’ve heard from him,” she added. “They always knew that he had a big life traveling before and he was on tour and all of that and that he lives in different countries all the time and loves to live all over the place. So we manage it really well.”
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And the SKIMS founder emphasized that she is never the person to stand between her kids spending time with her ex—despite what he has previously shared online.
“I think that the one thing that just gets me is there’s this narrative that I like to keep the kids away from him,” she noted. “I’ve never once done that. There’s been so many times where I’m just like, ‘Ah I want to show all these texts, what are you talking about?’ I beg them to go hang out or things like that.”
“I think it’s all good and we’re living our life,” she detailed, “and then I wake up and there’s all these tweets about how I’ve kidnapped the kids and I’m like, ‘It’s not a kidnapping. It’s divorce.’”
As Kardashian noted, “Every time he has asked, I will always let them see their father. That’s just who I am.”
Kardashian hedged that one moment she may step in is if West appears to be in a mental health crisis, though she clarified, “When he is like that, he doesn’t want to see the kids a lot. So it’s always worked out.”
E! News has reached out to Wests’ reps for comment and has not heard back.
Ultimately, though, Kardashian admitted she is just trying to do what is best for their kids.
“They love their lives and their routine and schedule,” she continued. “My job as their mom is just to make sure they stick to their routine and that they’re healthy and happy.”
Although her co-parenting dynamic with West is not ideal at the moment, the 44-year-old is optimistic that it will get better in the future.
“My mom would always say, ‘You’ve got to give it five years of being divorced before it all really comes together and everyone can coexist and be friends,’” she reflected. “I just welcome healthy relationships but it’s not easy.”
