'I’m more present now.' Kate Hudson on raising a teen, a tween and a toddler.

Kate Hudson is as well known for her complex family life as she is for over two decades as a Hollywood superstar. The award-winning actor, businesswoman, and mum of three kids, is estranged from father Bill Hudson but close to mum Goldie Hawn, step-dad Kurt Russell, and younger brother Oliver Hudson.

With slick Netflix ensemble film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery recently released in cinemas, Kate gave an interview to The Sunday Times about family dynamics and having her first son Ryder at age 26 and daughter Rani Rose at age 38.

"It is different," Kate told The Sunday Times.

"I’m definitely more present as a mother now that I’m older. With Ryder, our relationship is so special because I grew up with him. The big learning period of my life and becoming a woman happened as I was being a mother. It was a choice. We wanted to have a baby, and it felt instinctual," she added.

"I was very attached to him and vice versa. I took him everywhere. I didn’t leave him until he was two. I didn’t even really put him in school until he was 10, whereas I’m far more structured with my other kids."

Watch the trailer for one of Kate's most loved roles in How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days. Post continues below.

Kate has two sons, 18-year-old Ryder Russell Robinson who she shares with Black Crowes musician Chris Robinson and 11-year-old Bingham 'Bing' Hawn Bellamy with Muse frontman Matt Bellamy. She shares four-year-old daughter Rani Rose Hudson with fiancée Danny Fujikawa who she calls a "wonderful dad and stepdad." 

The relationships she has with ex-partners Matt and Chris appear positive and respectful.

"Ryder is in college and very happy [and, incidentally, dating actress Iris Apatow]. Chris and I just need to check in once in a while," she told The Sunday Times. 

"Matt is so wonderful — I couldn’t have asked for a better co-parent. For me it’s like, you loved this person. That doesn’t just go away, but you can re-establish a different kind of love. You can have an amazing time with an ex-partner because you’re really only focused on the love of your child."

Her complicated but loving extended family even hang out together for holidays.

"It might not look traditional from the outside, but on the inside I feel like we’re killing it," Kate said. 

"The unit that I’ve created with three children with three different fathers is a seriously strong unit, and it’s ours. I’m not interested in forcing some conventional idea of love or marriage. I’d like to be able to grow intimately with my partner for a long time, but I also don’t have rose-coloured glasses on."

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Kate's close relationship to mum Goldie, or 'Gogo' as her kids call her, is well documented. The mum and daughter pair often attend events together, clearly relishing each other's company.

"I always wanted to be close to my mum," she said. 

“Even during those times of individuation, which I think every young girl goes through with their mother, I still wanted to be close to her. I always needed that conversation and \comfort, even when I was off and independent. And I think it’s because she really allowed me to be my own woman."

Kate said on the podcast Divorce Sucks! with Laura Wasser that something else she has learnt from her parents is how to deal with divorce and relationship breakdowns when children are involved. Goldie Hawn split from Bill Hudson in 1982, and has been with Kurt Russell since 1983.

"I think the one thing that I learned from my mum is that no matter what you’re feeling... when I see my friends talking sh*t about their ex spouses in front of their kids, I get so upset because they don’t recognise how much that affects their child and how resentful their child will become of them," she explained, adding, "I never heard a bad word about my father."

"Kids are not only incredibly intelligent, but eventually they can make their mind up themselves," she continued. 

"They will see with their own eyes whatever needs to be seen and they need to come to that on their own terms. It’s not our place to tell them how to feel about the other parents. I think that’s so important."

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Last year, the actress opened up about the struggles of homeschooling all three kids amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Kate shared she was finding it difficult to balance her children’s schooling with running her own four businesses.

"I’m just trying to balance school and work, basically," she said.

"The schooling thing is a huge adjustment to the kids. It’s a juggling act. I’m doing more reading than I’ve ever done in my life."

Kate told Sunday Today with Willie Geist in 2021 that when it comes down to it, family is all that matters.

"The only expectations I really have that are really high in my life is with my kids," she said. "And with like family stuff. 

"Other than that, it's like, I just let it go. I work my ass off and then I walk away and I hope for the best."

Laura Jackel is Mamamia's Family Writer. For links to her articles and to see photos of her outfits and kids, follow her on Instagram and TikTok.

Feature Image: Instagram/@katehudson.