Whatever your opinion may be of Kanye West and the whole Kardashian family, you cannot deny that there are some absolute innocents in the latest public controversy surrounding them: Kim Kardashian West’s children. That’s why latest news about how the family is circling the wagons around them comes as a huge relief to us.
“She is shielding the kids,” an unnamed source has told People of how Kardashian West has been protecting her children from West’s outbursts on Twitter and in public. “All of her family is. They’ve circled around the kids and are insulating them from all of this. And everyone else has decided to create an atmosphere of normalcy around them.”
That, we hope, means that eldest daughter North West has been shielded from hearing that at a presidential campaign rally in South Carolina, her dad told the crowd that he wanted Kim to abort her. It should also mean that North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm have no idea that their dad has tweeted and deleted rants about Kim wanting to divorce and/or institutionalize him.
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Last week, Kardashian West seemed to confirm that she suspects her husband’s words are the result of his struggle with bipolar disorder.
“Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times do not align with his intentions,” she said in a heartfelt Instagram Stories post asking for compassion.
All of this public drama does seem like it would be traumatizing to the children, in our unprofessional opinion. But mental health experts do not suggest that parents hide their mental health issues from their children altogether.
“When children aren’t given information, they fill in the blanks,” licensed social worker Elana Premack Sandler previously told SheKnows. “Talking openly is an opportunity to correct misconceptions and decrease the anxiety that comes with uncertainty.
“Talking with children about mental illness requires learning a new a set of parenting skills,” Premack Sandler continued. “It may push your limits at a time that is already challenging. But the most important thing for your child to hear, even if it feels impossible to get the words exactly right, is that you love them. … One of the hardest things to communicate to anyone about mental illness is that it’s often chronic nature… Treatments that work at one time may not be as effective under changed circumstances. But having a child know that a parent wants to feel better is a way to instill hope and strength.”
With their father in Wyoming, the Kardashian West kids don’t have to see first-hand what their father is dealing with. At the same time, it won’t help them in the long run if their mother lies to them about why she flew to meet their dad over the weekend. Instead, they deserve an age-appropriate talk about the fact that their father is sick and working to get better, but that no matter what is going on, he loves them. For all of Kanye’s flaws, we don’t doubt that last bit for a minute.
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