Christmas isn't canceled in Kelly Clarkson's home.
In fact, it's the holiday the singer spends with her children—8-year-old daughter River Rose and 6-year-old son Remington Alexander—who she shares with former husband Brandon Blackstock. Following the pair's break up in 2020 after seven years of marriage, she said they've agreed to split the holidays so the kids are with Kelly for Christmas and Brandon for Thanksgiving.
"It's not like my favorite holiday and it is for his family, so I was like cool," she told Jewel Dec. 13 on The Kelly Clarkson Show. "It was so weird because you've always had a kid there and then all of a sudden you're alone."
Though it took some adjusting, Kelly—who shares joint legal custody of her kids and maintains primary physical custody—said she was able to make the most of it.
"At first it's weird and then you're like, 'OK. I can do things,'" she continued. "It's kind of incredible. You do get a little me time."
"It must be good preparation for empty nest syndrome," Jewel, who also coordinates the holidays with her ex-husband Ty Murray, replied. She noted that being away from her 11-year-old son Kase "forces me to invest," and remember how spent time before becoming a mom, adding, "I suddenly seem to forgot what I did."
Kelly agreed, saying she was "was a mess" at the beginning.
"But now, I'm like, it's awesome," she noted. "Absence does make the heart grow fonder."