Jana Kramer’s ex Mike Caussin reveals what ‘stings’ about co-parenting

It can be difficult to build a healthy co-parenting relationship, even if you are on good terms with your ex, like Jana Kramer. She recently had her ex-husband Mike Caussin (and her new husband Allan Russell!) join her on her podcast to talk about how they’re coping with raising their kids, and Caussin revealed the one thing that “stings the most” about their whole mixed family.

The One Tree Hill alum, who shares Jolie, 8, and Jace, 5, with Caussin and baby Roman, 1, with Russell, revealed that her older kids sometimes call Russell “Daddy” on this week’s episode of her Whine down with Jana Kramer podcast, per PEOPLE. “That’s a difficult one. They never called Allan ‘Dad’ at my house,” Caussin replied. “I’m not going to sit here and tell them you can’t call him whatever you want to call him.”

Although young children call their stepfather “father” it does not mean that they love their real father any less, but Kramer seems to be very sensitive to Caussin’s feelings on the subject. She remembered that they had had a conversation about it last year before Roman was born. “And we say, ‘We can’t say what they can and can’t do. If they want to call him the Easter Bunny, they can call him the Easter Bunny. They can call him whatever he wants,” she said. “I’m not going to tell you to call him ‘daddy’.”

Caussin confirmed that she doesn’t pressure her children to call Russell “daddy,” which is a good thing. ‘Yes, and you don’t. No one needs to make any kind of correction. But that stings the most,” Caussin said. “If I heard it, or if the kids said to me, ‘Oh, mommy told us to call him daddy,’ that would send me.”

That would be so hard! I would get emotional if my kids ever called anyone else “mommy” so I can’t even imagine. Still, it seems like Kramer and Russell are doing their best to make sure no feelings are hurt. Russell said he wouldn’t let the kids call him “Dad” when Caussin was around, and Kramer reiterated that she would only say things like, “Give this to Dad” when talking about something involving Roman has to do, but still calls. her husband ‘Allan’ around the children ’90 percent of the time’.

“And I’m cool with that and I can separate myself to a certain extent,” Caussin said. “But yeah, that’s just the hardest part. Again, it’s like missing moments with the kids. It is what it is. Comes with the territory.”

Russell added that sometimes “Dad” slips up[s] out of their mouths,” but he knows the children don’t make a “habit” of speaking about him that way. “Yeah, at this point they kind of call you what they call you,” Caussin replied. “But I defend that, it’s like a father or father is someone who nurtures, protects and nurtures a child, whether biological or not. So you know, you’re obviously still worthy of the title. But yes, the children know.”

Also on the episode, Kramer and Caussin talked about child support payments, which Kramer said is “the only thing we really, really fight about,” per We weekly. Kramer has primary custody of the children and was ordered to pay Caussin $3,200 a month in child support, according to the newspaper.

He called it the “last remaining grudge” after their divorce on the podcast. “Jana didn’t make up that I enjoy receiving that, especially since money is a thing in our marriage and our history and all this stuff,” Caussin said. ‘You’ve always brought that up. The last thing I want is for you to think I want that from you. So, finding my way after divorce [and] finding my career where I can do and do all those things has taken some time.

Now he works hard to take care of their children on his own and recently started his own business. “I have my goal [that] by a certain time I’m going to show up and have my lawyer sign a paper like, ‘Hey, this isn’t your legal obligation anymore,'” Caussin told Kramer, per We weekly. ‘For me that will be the most liberating moment ever in the history of Mike and Jana. So no part of me enjoys it [receiving the funds] not at all. I hate it.”

It’s certainly not easy to figure all these things out, but Kramer and Caussin seem to be doing their best to put their kids first (while at the same time Russell is a supportive husband). Yet these are issues that many parents struggle with, so kudos to Kramer for bringing awareness to this sensitive topic with honesty, patience, and grace.

These famous exes are getting co-parenting right.