InstagramThis year will mark the first Christmas Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon celebrate after divorcing. However, that doesn't mean they'll set aside their family traditions.
We sat down with the singer while promoting her new children's book "All I Want for Christmas" in New York on Tuesday, and she opened up about their plans for the holidays.
After revealing her two kiddos, Monroe and Moroccan, have already written their letters to Santa, Mariah explained, "Santa Claus comes every year and real reindeer are there, of course, as well. [We have] too many traditions to name! We go on a two-horse open sleigh and spend Christmas in Aspen usually so I can have a white Christmas, so it's really nice."
As far as how she and Nick plan to co-parent through the special time of year, she says, "I think we're all just learning as we go. We're doing the best we can, and it's all about the kids. That's it!"
In fact, Nick reciprocated her same thoughts in an interview with Howard Stern on Wednesday morning, expressing his happiness over her new relationship with James Packer.
"That's awesome, isn't it? It happened a lot faster than you thought," he told Stern who confessed he thought it was all a little bit fast. However, Nick promised he's just glad to see her doing well. "As long as she's happy and my children are happy."
Despite Mariah having a new boyfriend, Nick says nothing has changed when it comes to their family and making sure the children have a normal upbringing.
"[I see them] all the time! We're in the same city together," he explained. "My house is more in the suburbs, and they're in the city. We hang out all the time."
He added, "You know what's really cool, and I love this, and my daughter will be like, 'I don't want to sleep here! I want to go sleep at my other house.' So we'll just put her in the car and drive her to Mom's house. Like even Thanksgiving, it was really cool because we all had Thanksgiving together…At the end of the night my son was like, ‘Yo! I want to go with you!' And my daughter was like, ‘I'll see you tomorrow! Come pick me up in the morning.' So we had a boys night!"
Overall, Nick says divorce can be a good thing as long as family comes first. "It can be when you're mature about it. There's still love and respect involved, so it's not really about what I get and what you get."
And even when it comes to Mariah, he has nothing negative to say. "We're family, Howard!" he exclaimed. "No bad words. She's awesome."