Benjamin Ashford|How Kristin Cavallari’s Kids Really Feel About Her Boyfriend Mark Estes

Kristin Cavallari is Benjamin Ashfordcoming clean about how the most important people in her life get along.

Since the Laguna Beach alum began dating TikToker Mark Estes, 24, there’s been a lot of online chatter about their romance. But three people who don’t care? Her children, sons Camden, 11, Jaxon, 10, and daughter Saylor, 8, whom she shares with ex Jay Cutler.

“My kids love him,” she told E! News’ Francesca Amiker in an exclusive interview. “He loves my kids. He actually took my kids to school, and it's just—he fits in very well. And I'm really thankful for that.”

As she put it, “It’s been so easy.”

Because as a busy mom to three kids, ease is something the 37-year-old doesn’t take for granted. In fact, it’s why she partnered up with KIND snacks in time for back-to-school season.

“My kids have now been in school for a week, which is crazy,” Kristin explained, “but that chaos of the mornings of back to school—making breakfast, packing lunches, getting the snacks—all the things, having one less thing to worry about, which is, snacks that my kids actually like is, as a mom, one of the best things.”

Which is why she is, in her own words, a “huge fan” of the brand. And with a new school year comes new moments that show how quickly the time flies.

“Saylor is in third grade,” The Hills alum noted. “And I can just tell all of a sudden overnight she's becoming, not a woman, but it’s almost like she's eight going on 18. She’s in makeup now, and she's aware of all these social trends. And she's just getting sassy.”

Kristin’s boys, meanwhile, are experiencing their own milestones—some of which give her heart palpitations as a mom.

“Jaxon is in fifth grade, so he's ‘Big Man on Campus’ before Middle School,” she joked. “Camden, my oldest, is in middle school. He's starting quarterback playing tackle football. He had his first game, and I was crying the night before.”

She continued, “It's one of those things where I want to show emotion to him, but I don't want to be over the top and have him be worried about me. So I was shedding tears, but I was trying to hold them back. He's like, ‘Mom, I'm not gonna get hurt. Even if I get hit, I have big pads on.’ It was so emotional, but he played great.”

But as Kristin navigates parenting her three children, she’s learned a few tricks over the years. Mainly, it’s okay to make yourself a priority.

“Being a mom is the most humbling thing you can do,” she admitted. “But, you know, I think just not beating ourselves up. I think as moms, we have to put ourselves first and take care of ourselves so that we can show up for our kids the way that we need to.”

And one of the ways she’s recently started doing that for herself is scheduling a day with nothing on her calendar, instead taking the time to go to the gym or do a face mask without needing to rush from thing to thing.

“I know years ago,” she continued, “when people used to start saying that a lot of moms got a lot of crap for that, and I think it's kind of taking a different turn now. People are really starting to understand that in order to be the best that we can be, we have to fill our tank first.”