Kelly Clarkson has a bone to pick with her kids’ school.
The singer spoke passionately about her pet peeve as a working mom in Thursday’s episode of Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast.
“I don’t know when the school systems thought it would be a good plan for families and their emotional stability to start having performances at 10 a.m. during the week,” she said, pointing out that “a lot of [parents] work.”
Clarkson, 42, added that she often is not given “an advance” warning in order to request time off from work, which she called “cruel.”
She noted, “A lot of jobs wouldn’t let you do that anyway, but even if you’re, like, the boss and you would have that control, our kids don’t understand.”
The “Kelly Clarkson Show” host, who shares daughter River, 10, and son Remington, 8, with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, said she looks “like [an] a–hole” when she cannot show up for her children.
“Then [my kids] go, ‘Why was this mom there?’ And then you have to say, ‘Because that kid’s got a better mom,’” she quipped.
Clarkson’s comments come on the heels of her headline-making absence from multiple episodes of her eponymous talk show earlier this month.
While she was reportedly missing due to a “personal matter,” the “American Idol” alum did not divulge any details upon her return.
She did, however, thank her fans for 1,000 episodes of the show with a cryptic mention that she has been “lost [and] alone a lot.”
On Thursday, Kelce commiserated with Clarkson’s relatable parenting woes, saying her 5-year-old daughter, Wyatt, recently accused her of going to New York on a work trip “because you don’t love me.”
After telling the little one that someone has to pay for their family’s “fun” beach house, Jason Kelce’s wife pointed out how the ESPN analyst, 37, also leaves home for his job.
Wyatt acknowledged that her dad did not “want to leave” — but told Kylie, “I just think you could say no.”
The 33-year-old is also the mother of daughters Elliotte, 4, and Bennett, 2, and is currently pregnant with another baby girl.
Kylie shared her plans to not let any of her children “absorb” this skewed mindset about working parents.
“I’m going to actually make a point to make sure our daughters don’t think that,” she said.
Clarkson, for her part, specifically tells her son, “Mommy does work. Women and men work. And it’s OK. And you’re gonna be fine.”
Kylie chimed in, “You’re welcome.”
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