When it comes to being a parent, we all have defining influences. And in Kylie Jenner‘s new interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she seems pretty self-aware of hers — namely, growing up on reality TV and being a member of the famous Kardashian-Jenner family. So, it goes without saying that Kylie isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill mom. Still, when you strip away the cameras and the makeup (10 hours-worth in the case of her cover interview with the magazine), who Kylie is as a mom and how she thinks she came to be that way seem surprisingly relatable.
Granted, I’m not suggesting Kylie is ever going to be a hot mess soccer mom like some of us (it’s me; I’m some of us). But take, for example, the elaborate photoshoot. According to the magazine, the stunning photo styling was a riff on the dueling public perceptions of Kylie as pop culture royalty and an overhyped “beauty queen” vs. a savvy entrepreneur.
But as writer Christine Lennon points out in the piece, the photoshoot took 10 hours, leaving only 30 minutes for the interview. That’s excessive. It’s, well, a little ridiculous. You know who doesn’t have time for such shenanigans? Working moms. Or basically any mom. Lennon notes it’s almost Stormi’s bedtime when the interview starts — and Kylie “wants to go home.”
Granted, Kylie undoubtedly had nannies on hand to watch Stormi. Still, as a mother of two young kids, what I hear when Lennon says Kylie was ready to go home is that Mama was tired. She was ready for some nighttime snuggles with her little girl. And as a working mom of two who doesn’t have an arsenal of hired help, my brain also immediately thinks of everything I could accomplish in the 10 hours it took for the photoshoot. Maybe that crossed Kylie’s mind, too.
Then again, Kylie points out that celebrity is essentially the only life she’s known. She credits it with shaping who she is as a parent. And celebrity is a strange world where time doesn’t seem to work the same way it does for the rest of us. “It was just our normal,” Kylie said of filming Keeping Up With the Kardashians from a young age. “We also got to grow up with a bunch of older siblings, who were mostly adults, really.”
But here’s where I feel a kinship to Kylie as a mother: hearing about her family’s influence. For better or worse, the way we raise our children is often a reflection of the way we were raised. Kylie runs a billion-dollar business with her mom, suggesting the two share more than a few traits. “My siblings compare us all the time. I see my mom almost every day; I was over there last night. I’ll just go by her house. We’re always here working together, doing different things, or taking meetings together,” she said of mom Kris Jenner.
Kylie’s relationship with her dad, Caitlyn Jenner, may also have something to do with how involved she is with Stormi. She said, “My dad was the best growing up. Never missed a sports game. Took us to school every day, and our school was like 45 minutes from our house.” The two talk “like, every day.”
Plus, her parents’ dynamic with each other now plays into the way she co-parents with ex Travis Scott.
Admittedly, things between Kris and Caitlyn have been strained in recent years. But Kylie says that how they worked as a team for so long steers a lot of her parenting decisions. “We have such a great relationship,” she told Harper’s Bazaar of Scott. “We’re like best friends. We both love Stormi and want what’s best for her. We stay connected and coordinated. I think about [my parents] in situations with Stormi, what they would do. They were very hands-on with me, and I want the same for Stormi.”
Sounds familiar, right? It does to me. Because as a mother, that’s all any of us really want for our kids — for them to feel loved and supported and happy. How Kylie arrived at that point as a parent is wildly different than how you or I probably did. But, seriously, take away all the big flashy stuff and what do you see? A mom.
When asked about raising Stormi in the public eye, as she was raised, Kylie admits it gives her pause. “I think about it a lot because the world is just so crazy now. Exposing her to all of the negativity that comes with the Internet, I think about that too,” she shared. “I’m just trying my best, even though she’s still little, to remind her how blessed we are and that this isn’t normal, the way we live. It’s just our life.”
As while she’s right that their lifestyle “isn’t normal,” just waking up every day and trying to do the best for your kid most definitely is.
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