Kylie Kelce On Being OK With “Bare Minimum” Days & The Chaos Of Three Kids Under 5

So many parents, especially moms, have grand plans at the beginning of the summer. This is the year, we tell ourselves, that we’re going to have a schedule. We’re going to go on educational day trips! Our kids are going to have a designated reading time every day. Screens? They’ll be so busy having mom-coordinated fun that they’re not going to even think about screens. Then, of course, the second week of summer vacation rolls around and we’re exhausted and the next thing we know our kids are on their 104th episode of Bluey of the day. It’s something Kylie Kelce — mom to Wyatt, 4, Ellie, 3, and Bennett, 1 — knows too well.

“There are times where I’ll see on social media that people are doing sensory bins or they’re doing different themed activities based on a book for the week,” she tells Romper. “Those are the times where I have to check myself and say, ‘It’s okay that we get to the end of the night and they’re all breathing and they’re in their clean beds, safe.’ Sometimes it’s just the bare minimum like that. I keep myself in check recognizing that three under five is chaotic. It is a phase of life that we are in. You just sort of enjoy the chaos — embrace it.”

That’s not to say the family’s summer is going to be a free-for-all. One thing Kelce is looking forward to is making “Print Pals” with her girls, a free activity from HP designed for kids, especially neurodivergent kids, to express their thoughts and feelings through making their own puppets. “Resources like the Print Pals that can make you feel like a slightly more competent parent,” jokes Kelce, who partnered with HP and has advocated on behalf of the autism community for years through the Eagles Autism Foundation.

But there’s more going on this summer than enriching arts and crafts projects. The Kelces — including, of course, Kylie’s now retired NFL-star husband, Jason Kelce — are beach folks. Sea Isle, down on the Jersey Shore, is their “happy place.”

“There’s just so much to do. You’re out breathing the salty air and playing in the sand and you really get a full day of activity,” she says fondly. “We are through and through Sea Isle. I grew up going there. I lucked out because Jason fell in love with it before we even met, going to Polar Bear Plunge down there.”

Why are we not surprised Jason Kelce does a Polar Bear Plunge? Honestly, once we learned he gave his wife a sword for their anniversary very little else about him will be surprising. Just like we weren’t surprised to hear, shortly after announcing his retirement from the Philadelphia Eagles, that the charismatic and charming personality would be joining ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown in the fall.

“I think honestly, that I’m more excited for football season because I am excited to see how he excels in his new endeavor,” Kelce says. But right now, she admits, it’s a little weird. This is the first summer in their relationship that he’s not preparing to play football in the fall. The first summer he doesn’t have the structure of off-season workouts.

“We’ll get into a little bit more of a routine and we’ll be right back to our normal fall chaos,” she says.

“I feel like once you’re in that world you’re in that world forever,” I muse. She laughs.

“They’re not getting rid of us any time soon.”

We’re glad to hear it.