Kim Kardashian saw divorce up close and personal when she was a kid… and it radically affected how she went into her own divorce from Kanye West after the pair had four children of their own.
The 43-year-old reality TV mogul is the subject of a new GQ feature out this week. As Perezcious readers will recall, part of that story focused Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West, and the girl’s amazing ability to wring dollars out of her neighbors! But there was a serious side to the profile, too, and it had to do with Kim’s momma Kris Jenner and the end of her marriage to the late Robert Kardashian Sr. back in 1991.
Related: Kim Hasn’t Met Baby Rocky Yet Because Sis Kourtney Has THIS Rough Rule In Place!
Of course, Robert and Kris got married way back in 1978, and then welcomed four kids together: Kourtney, now 44, Kim, 43, Khloé, 39, and Robert Jr., 36. But Kris was infamously unfaithful to Robert at the turn of the ’90s, and the pair divorced by early 1991. Through the affair and the divorce, though, both Kris and Robert were open, honest, and loving to the kids — and that made Kim want the same for her little ones: North, now 10, Saint, 7, Chicago, 5, and Psalm, 4. She explained to the mag:
“I did think about how my parents handled it with us. I just remember them being open…Ultimately, what matters is that kids feel loved and heard. You want to be sensitive because they’re just kids, and it’s hard to go through no matter what age.”
Kim recalled the awful moment in 1991 when she learned that her mom and dad were splitting up:
“I remember thinking, ‘please, Lord, don’t let them be getting a divorce.’ I never had an inkling that it would happen, but I knew that was what they were going to tell us. I felt it.”
It wasn’t as bad as the SKKN By Kim exec expected, though — at least not for her and her siblings. Explaining what was so mature about the end of Kris and Robert’s 13-year union, and what she learned for her own split, the SKIMS star added:
“You have to make sure that you only go to a level that they can understand. It’s OK to show a vulnerable side. You never go to a negative side.”
Smartly stated! Obviously, that’s easier said than done. Especially when the other party involved, uh, not exactly holding up his end of the bargain to never go to the negative side. Looking at you, Ye…
Still, Kim has relied on fam, friends, a few experts, and her parenting know-how to get through it all, as she summed up:
“I do have a therapist that only deals in child psychology that I talk to to get parenting tips and advice. Sometimes I feel challenged by parenting. But I have the best group of friends and we talk about everything together, so that to me is therapy. I hit the lottery, the f**king Mega Ball of friends.”
Love that!
Divorce isn’t easy in any situation. But at least in Kim’s case, she has a lot of people in her corner who love her. And she has the wherewithal to learn this critical lesson from her own parents! Reactions, Perezcious readers??
[Image via Ivan Nikolov/MEGA/WENN/Kim Kardashian/Instagram]