When Bristol Palin’s son decided he wanted to live with his dad, he took to his phone to message his mom the news.
The daughter of former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, 33, appeared on the Monday, Aug. 26 episode of Cheryl Burke’s podcast Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans, opening up about her 15-year-old son Tripp’s decision to move in with his dad. Bristol shares her son with ex-fiancé Levi Johnston and is also mom to daughters Sailor, 8, and Atlee, 7, whom she shares with ex-husband Dakota Meyer.
“It was like…it still is gut-wrenching to me because it’s been just Tripp and I. And then I’ve had my girls but it’s always been Tripp and I,” Bristol says of transitioning to a household without her son.
The mom of three says her son would spend a couple of weeks in Alaska with his dad and then come back to her in Texas, whereas she splits her time with her daughters 50/50 with Meyer.
“But it’s one of those things where he’s almost 16. He does need his dad. And he needs that relationship,” Bristol continues. “He thinks that this is best right now and all I can do is just hope and pray that it is what’s best.”
Bristol shares that her son is acclimating well to Alaska and has just started school, where he’s playing football and is set to start other sports later this year.
“But kids…especially boys, they need their dads and I can’t hinder that for myself. So as hard as it is for me, and it’s so hard for my girls too, I know that he needs to grow that relationship with his dad,” she says. “And he loves Alaska so much, he’s hunting and fishing all the time. So I know that it’s going to be a good thing.”
As for how she found out about her son’s news, Bristol says the teenager texted her to say he wanted to stay in Alaska.
“He just texted me. He’s like, ‘Hey Mom. I’m not coming back,’ ” Bristol recalls. “Oh, I couldn’t even believe it. At first I’m like, ‘I’m coming up to Alaska, we’re not doing this.’ I was so mad. So mad.”
“We talk before school every day and after school every day. We FaceTime every day. So I’m sure that was a very monumental decision for him,” she says. “And I’m sure it was so hard for him to bring it up to me but I respect that he thinks this is what’s best and he needs that relationship with his dad.”
Bristol adds that while it’s important for her son to grow his relationship with his dad, it’s hard for her to let him go.
“Selfishly, I’m like I just want him with me forever. He’s my best friend. My kids are my whole world,” she says. “But I can’t be selfish in that. He needs to strengthen that relationship and I just need to support it.”
Although she currently lives in Texas, the mom of three says she plans on buying another home in Alaska so she can visit both her son and her extended family.
“Maybe one day I’ll have like a secondary home there, but my whole family still lives there,” she tells Burke. “And I go up quite a bit, so I’m there like every other month I think to see my family. I’ll be up there plenty to watch him play football and whatnot. So hopefully one day I’ll have a secondary house up there.”
