A dad-of-18 claims he "almost never" watches his own children, and says it's "not normal" for him to "babysit" them. Polygamist patriarch Kody Brown has at one point been married to four women at the same time, with their various ups and downs televised on TLC reality show Sister Wives.
In a recent episode, which aired on September 18th, Kody can be seen defending himself against his third wife Christine Brown's allegations that he is "never there" for her and their six children. Christine, who left Kody in November 2021, claims that the one and only time Kody turned up for a hike with her and her family, he ended up bringing along the children he shares with his fourth wife Robyn Brown, as he was "babysitting" them.
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Kody went on to state that "babysitting" his own kids wasn't a usual occurrence for him, explaining: “It’s not normal for me to babysit my kids. I’ve been working all my life. I was raised on a ranch. We were always busy. The idea of going kayaking or hiking and stuff like that is not something I really do a lot of with anybody."
He added: “I’m good at watching my kids, but I almost never do it. It’s easier for me to pay somebody $20 an hour than to lose $200 an hour with the business that I have at hand."
As well as the six children he shares with Christine, Kody has one child with his first wife, Meri Brown, and six with his second wife Janelle Brown. He also has five children with his most recent wife Robyn, having adopted three of her children from a previous marriage.
The wives appear to take differing stances on Kody's approach to parenting, with Robyn reasoning: “Kody and I have a lot going on during the day. That’s why I have a nanny — so that I can have her help me instead of trying to ask Kody to help with the kids. [...] It's not fair of me to ask him to help when he has so many responsibilities."
Meanwhile, Janelle summed him up as "scattered", while Meri admitted she'd once hoped he'd become "more focused and centered," but has since realised this is just the sort of person he is.
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