Kristin Cavallari: How Jay Cutler Split Made Me a 'Better Mom'
New chapter! Kristin Cavallari has been through her fair share of ups and downs in the past year — but she’s learned to find the silver lining.
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The Uncommon James founder, 34, announced in April 2020 that she and Jay Cutler were going their separate ways after 10 years together. The duo tied the knot in June 2013 and share three kids: Camden, 8, Jaxon, 6, and Saylor, 5. Nearly one year into her adjustment to single parenthood, Cavallari admitted that she’s seen a lot of positive changes.
“I’d say it’s maybe made me a better mom in some ways because I have my kids half of the time now. So when I have them for my week, I am so incredibly present,” she said in a recent interview with HollywoodLife. “I am not distracted by my phone or anything else. I am with them. If someone is having a temper tantrum or something, I remain calm because I know that I am losing them in a few days.”
The Hills alum and the ex-NFL player, 37, settled the terms of their custody agreement one month after their split made headlines. Court documents obtained by Us Weekly in May 2020 revealed that the duo divided custody down the middle, with 182.5 days a year dedicated to each parent. Per the docs, if Cavallari has the kids, Cutler is permitted to two phone calls per week and two FaceTime or Skype calls per week at “mutually convenient days and times” and vice versa.
During her allotted time with her little ones, the True Comfort cookbook author dives in headfirst. On her off-weeks, she told the outlet, “I really focus on myself or whatever it is so that when I have my kids, I have my kids. That’s it and I’m not doing anything else.”
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Cavallari added, “I’ve gotten a babysitter one time when I’ve had my kids in the last year and I completely regretted it. My girlfriends are like, ‘Let’s go get dinner. Let’s go get drinks,’ and I’m like, ‘I refuse to get a babysitter.’ So you just have to figure out what works for you.”
While she cherishes every moment she has with her kids, it isn’t always a walk in the park. Earlier this month, the Very Cavallari alum told Us exclusively that there’s a big difference between her daughter’s demeanor and that of her sons.
“It’s harder to raise girls because girls are drama,” she joked. “It’s a lot of drama, and Saylor’s payback for me is she’s very tough. She’s set in her ways. She knows what she wants, and she’s not going to stop until she gets it.”
Cavallari’s mini-me is “really girly” and “really tough” at the same time. “She’s kind of, like, the best of both worlds,” the MTV personality explained.
The businesswoman loves seeing her children hit major milestones as they grow up, and while she’s active on social media, she likes to keep some of the memories between her and her family.
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“The day that I do [post pictures of them] is the day that they join social media. If they’re not private — you know, I don’t know,” she told Us. “Jay and I made that decision a long time ago that we want them to make that decision. We don’t want to make it for them. So when they’re old enough to be on social media, absolutely. And if you want to make your page public, fine, we’ll have that discussion. And then if you’re going to post pictures, then I’ll post pictures of you too. But I don’t want to rob them of that choice.”
