Parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic has been an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows for everyone. That includes actress and mom Kate Hudson, who opened up about her family’s special arrangements in a recent interview.
Hudson spoke to Today about two dad-related topics close to her heart: What it’s like raising three kids by three different dads and how she feels about her own estranged father.
As with many caregivers, the mom of three finds some days are harder than others.
“I never thought in a million years that I’d spend a year in one place,” she told Today. “And when you have so many kids, sometimes you have those moments where you’re hiding in your bathroom going, ‘Please, please, get me out of here!’”
Thankfully, Hudson doesn’t spend much time bathroom-hiding, as reminding herself of how fortunate she is to have her loved ones — 17-year-old Ryder, nine-year-old Bingham, and two-year-old Rani Rose, who she parents with current partner Danny Fujikawa — safe and sound during this stressful time.
On the subject of the actress’s father, Bill Hudson, a musician who divorced her mother, Goldie Hawn, and left when Kate was very young, Hudson spoke with great compassion for others who are also estranged from a parent.
“I think that estrangement is unfortunately quite common,” she told the outlet. “I think it’s important for people to talk about that. If they can’t reconnect or if it’s too challenging, that it’s OK, right?”
“I think that estrangement is unfortunately quite common. I think it's important for people to talk about that. If they can't reconnect or if it's too challenging, that it's OK, right?”
- Kate Hudson
Hudson’s words ring true, as reconciliation after child-parent estrangement isn’t the norm, according to a research study analysis by Psychology Today writer Peg Streep.
Thinking about times with (and without) a distant parent can be difficult, especially around the December holidays or times when family is a big focus.
Her dad’s hurtful comments six years ago
The painful family rift between the Hudsons was in the public eye in 2015, after the elder Hudson told the Daily Mail that both Kate and her brother Oliver were “dead to me now” and ordered them to stop using his surname.
He walked back on his words in a later Insider edition, but suggested they take on actor and step-father Kurt Russell’s last name instead.
The dramatic statements were sparked by Oliver’s glib Instagram post on Father’s Day that year, wishing his sister a “Happy Abandonment Day.”
Since then, the absent father has patched things up with his son. Oliver told Larry King in 2018 that he and his father were “trying, we’ve shot some texts back and forth.” It’s unknown if the “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days” star is also mending fences.
The two siblings may not make amends with their dad, given that it’s a “41-year-old issue,” as Hudson put it to Today. But as she told the outlet, that’s perfectly fine.
She doesn’t need to heal her bond with her dad to be a great parent to three.
And Hudson may be putting her energies towards connecting with other family members more likely to respond positively. On a recent episode of her podcast with Oliver, “Sibling Revelry,” she revealed she’s considering getting in touch with her father’s three grown kids, who are their half-siblings.
Also on HuffPost: