“I think they grew up seeing the cameras…even as babies. We’d walk out and there’d be paparazzi.”

Kim Kardashian is opening up about the struggles of parenting.

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Kim, 42, is mom to 9-year-old North, 7-year-old Saint, 5-year-old Chicago, and 4-year-old Psalm, all of whom she shares with ex-husband Kanye West, who is now known as Ye.

Instagram: @kimkardashian

Sitting down on the podcast On Purpose With Jay Shetty on Monday, Kim candidly discussed some of the biggest challenges she encounters as a mom of four.

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“Parenting is the thing that has taught me the most about myself,” she told the host, Jay. “It has been the most challenging thing.”

Instagram: @kimkardashian

Elaborating further on some of these challenges, Kim explained that she sometimes struggles to handle her kids’ changing “moods” and “personalities” with “no one there” to help her out.

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“There are nights I cry myself to sleep, like, What just happened? with all the moods and the personalities,” she said.

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“Sometimes they’re fighting and there’s no one there,” she went on. “It’s me [that has] to play good cop and bad cop. So that is definitely a challenge.”

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Going on to reveal that she’s working on being “a little bit firmer” with her kids, Kim said, “Sometimes it’s nights where we are going hour by hour to see if we’re gonna survive. Night by night. If a tantrum comes in, oh my god. Your life is completely upside down.”

Instagram: @kimkardashian

“I mean, there [are] nights when you don’t wash your hair for days as a mom, and you have spit-up all over you, and you’re wearing the same pajamas,” she explained before adding, “It is the most challenging, rewarding job on this planet.”

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Interestingly, this comes just a week after Kim found herself at the center of public attention over her parenting of her second son, Saint.

Instagram: @kimkardashian

Sharing the video messages that her kids filmed for Mother’s Day, which was on May 14, Kim posted a clip of Saint saying in part, “I know I’m rude to you a lot, I say you’re nothing to me, but you mean the world to me.” The footage garnered a huge reaction online, with the 7-year-old’s loaded remark causing several social media users to question Kim’s parenting.

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Elsewhere during the On Purpose podcast, Kim discussed her kids’ complicated relationship with fame.

Instagram: @kimkardashian

North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm have all been brought up in the spotlight from day one, having been featured in various episodes of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and having appeared all over Kim’s and her sisters’ social media pages. As a result, they’re often swarmed by paparazzi and screaming fans when they’re spotted out and about.

@kimkardashian / Via Twitter: @KimKardashian

When asked how she navigates this with her kids, Kim explained that she’s “open and honest” with them about all aspects of their lives.

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“I’ll talk to my kids about anything they wanna ask me about,” she said.

Instagram: @kimkardashian

“I am so open and honest with my kids. I think that’s the only way to be,” she went on. “And it could be things that they might not understand. I’ll wait to find the appropriate time to talk about it.”

Instagram: @kimkardashian

Kim went on to note that her kids have grown up “seeing the cameras” and paparazzi from a super young age, meaning that they’re pretty desensitized to it all now.

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“I think they grew up seeing the cameras…even as babies,” she said. “We’d walk out and there’d be paparazzi, so it’s not really something that they acknowledge a lot.”

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But as Kim went on to explain, this doesn’t stop her kids — namely North — from expressing their discomfort at the paparazzi when needed.

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“My daughter’s really vocal; she’ll tell them when she doesn’t want them around and to leave her alone and to stop,” Kim said, seemingly referring to North, who has attracted attention time and again for her candid interactions with the paps.

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As for Kim’s thoughts on this, she’s super happy that North and her other children are able to stand up to the paparazzi whenever they’re uncomfortable. “I love that they use their little voices,” she said.

Instagram: @kimkardashian

However, Kim explained that her kids also have a totally “normal life” away from all of the fame.

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“They also have such a normal life, and such a different life away from all of that too,” Kim shared. “That’s why I love that my sisters and I all had babies at the same time so they can be with each other and have these experiences together.”

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Kim also noted that her kids experience “a little glimpse” of normality whenever they visit places where they’re not so easily recognized.

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Recalling a recent trip she took to Japan with her children, Kim explained that they weren’t approached for photos at all during their stay.

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“Everyone’s really respectful. Even if they might recognize you, they don’t ask for photos,” she said.

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“It’s a really amazing experience,” Kim went on, adding that she thinks “it’s important” to get “a little glimpse” of normality, “especially for the little ones.”