Kelly Clarkson Opens Up About Helping Daughter Through ‘Hard’ Junior High Years

Kelly Clarkson revealed that her 12-year-old daughter, River, is having a “hard” time at junior high, but she’s doing her best to help her through it without being an “I told you so” parent.

In an interview published Tuesday (November 10) with E! News, the American Idol winner described herself as a “pretty progressive parent.” Clarkson shared two children, River and son Remington (10), with her late ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, who passed away at age 48 last August following a private three-year battle with melanoma skin cancer.

The ‘Since U Been Gone” singer said she tells her children, “‘You’re gonna make your own mistakes, and that’s okay,'” adding, “I’m not like an ‘I told you so,’ but I do implement advice.”

Clarkson shared how River is in junior high, which “sucks,” noting, “It’s a hard age with friends, and arguing and stuff like that. I do offer advice, and I’ve had my daughter come back and be like, ‘So you were right.'”

“I’ve had them be like, ‘Okay, so I didn’t do that, and I should have,’ she continued.

River Blackstock, Remington Blackstock — (Photo by: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)

Earlier this year, a source told Page Six how Clarkson was helping her kids navigate the loss of her father. “It’s been an incredibly emotional year for Kelly and the kids,” the insider told the outlet. “Her focus has been making sure they feel loved, supported, and as stable as possible while giving them the space to grieve in their own way.”

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The Voice coach also revealed back in January that she lets her kids sleep in the same bed as her. “There’s been a lot for our family recently, and so I have allowed my kids to sleep with me quite a bit,” she told her followers in a YouTube Q&A. “So it’s my two dogs, my kids and me.”

Clarkson described it as “a lot” but also “really special,” sharing, “The conversations you have during that time are pretty cute. So that’s probably my favorite time of day.”

Elsewhere in her E! News interview, Clarkson spoke about the current season of The Voice and working alongside Adam Levine, Queen Latifah, and Riley Green. She was particularly excited to work with Queen Latifah, whom she described as a “legend.”

“I know people throw around the term legend a lot, but she actually is,” Clarkson said. “She’s done so much, be it Broadway and movie musicals, be it rapping, be it singing, be it acting, whatever it is. She’s just always doing stuff. That brought just a legendary kind of status to the show for us this season.”