Kelly Clarkson is a mother who spanks her kids if they don’t behave -
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson with daughter River (L) and son Remy. PHOTO: KELLY CLARKSON/INSTAGRAM

Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her children amid her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.

The singer and daytime talk show host, 38, spoke about how her family has been handling her split with Blackstock, 43, on Monday during a joint interview with fellow The Voice coach Gwen Stefani,

Clarkson shared that she’s been very focused on the well-being of her daughter River Rose, 6, and son Remington Alexander, 4.

“It’s just one day when you’re like, ‘Wow, this has forever changed and it’s not just my heart has changed, there’s other little hearts, too,’ ” she told Extra.

When asked why she’s been so open about her divorce, Clarkson replied, “I have a great family and friends that are there for me… It’s a very hard thing to navigate, to be able to be honest and share your story, so maybe you can help someone else, but at the same time protecting these little kids you adore.”

The American Idol alum continued, “We have a lot of help as far as therapists or child psychologists because we want to do it right.”

“I definitely want to do it right,” she added. “Everyone’s sad and it’s okay to be sad.”

Stefani — who shares sons Kingston James McGregor, 14, Zuma Nesta Rock, 12, and Apollo Bowie Flynn, 6, with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale — went on to praise Clarkson for “doing a really great job.”

“I think it’s hard to be a public person, but now that you add in a family… they didn’t choose it,” Stefani, 51, said.

Clarkson filed for divorce from Blackstock, who also has children Savannah, 18, and Seth, 13, from a previous marriage, on June 4.

Kelly Clarkson, Brandon Blackstock
Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock. ART STREIBER/NBCU PHOTO BANK/NBCUNIVERSAL VIA GETTY IMAGES VIA GETTY; TAYLOR HILL/GETTY

The “Since U Been Gone” songstress addressed the split last month when she returned to The Kelly Clarkson Show studio, telling a virtual audience that she “didn’t see anything coming that came, but what I’m dealing with is hard — it involves more than just my heart, it involves a lot of little hearts.”

“We know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts,” she shared. “So I’m usually very open and I usually talk about everything but in this case, I will talk a little bit here and there about how it affects me personally, but probably won’t go too far into it because I’m a mama bear and my kids come first.”

A source previously told PEOPLE that Clarkson would surely make it a point to put her kids first in her divorce from Blackstock.

“She had to work through a lot of hurt from her childhood,” said the source close to Clarkson, whose emotional 2015 song “Piece by Piece” was written about her father’s abandonment and the stability she found in Blackstock.

“Her priority is making sure her children grow up in a stable, loving environment,” added the source. “… She’s always thought of Seth and Savannah as her own too, and she has a special relationship with both of them. Kelly wants to remain close with her step-kids.”

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