'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says it's 'not normal' for him to 'babysit' his kids and he'd rather pay a nanny than lose out on work time

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'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says it's 'not normal' for him to 'babysit' his kids and he'd rather pay a nanny than lose out on work time
Kody Brown.TLC
  • Kody Brown said on "Sister Wives" that he's "good" at watching his kids but "almost never" does it.
  • "It's easier for me to pay somebody $20 an hour than to lose $200 an hour," he said.
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Kody Brown said on Sunday's episode of TLC's "Sister Wives" that he "almost never" watches his children.

During a segment on the show about how the patriarch of the Brown family spends his time, he said, "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."

Kody was defending himself after Christine, at that time his third wife, said in a solo interview that one of the times Kody went hiking with her and their kids he also brought his fourth wife Robyn's kids along because he was "babysitting" them.

According to Kody, he's usually too busy to do it.

"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," he said.

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Kody appears to have held a number of different jobs over the years "Sister Wives" has been on the air, but it's unclear what he currently does for a living.

'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says it's 'not normal' for him to 'babysit' his kids and he'd rather pay a nanny than lose out on work time
Christine and Kody on the "Sister Wives" premiere.TLC; TLC

Very few of Kody's 18 children, shared with his four wives, are still minors. His youngest daughter with Christine, Truely, is 12 years old. His youngest daughter with his second wife, Janelle, is 17 years old. His fourth wife, Robyn, has the youngest kids in the Brown family: She and Kody have a son together named Solomon, who is 10 years old, and a daughter, Ariella, who is six. One of Robyn's daughters from a previous marriage, Breanna, is 17 years old.

Janelle, Christine, and Robyn also have adult children who live at home, but Robyn explained on Sunday's episode that she has a nanny to help with her younger children because Kody is so busy all the time.

"Kody and I have a lot going on during the day," Robyn said in a solo interview. "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."

She added: "It's not really fair of me to ask him to help when he has so many responsibilities and has such a big family."

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'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says it's 'not normal' for him to 'babysit' his kids and he'd rather pay a nanny than lose out on work time
Christine and Robyn Brown.TLC

Kody's other wives, Janelle and Christine, appeared to disagree with Robyn's assessment of how he spends his time.

Christine said on Sunday's episode that although the pair are separating, he's welcome to visit their daughters who live at home — Truely, Ysabel, who is 19, and Gwendlyn, who is 20 — when he wants to see them.

"He's not here any more than he was before, he's not here any less. It's the same," Christine said. "Truely's not even noticed it."

But Christine said her older daughters do notice Kody's behavior and that it's affecting their relationship with him.

"It's hard to see just such a contrast with Kody, how he is at Robyn's house versus how he is at my house. He's just disengaged at my house," she said.

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Christine said her older daughters tell her that they see that her relationship with Kody is "broken" and that they can't imagine what it's like for her to see him with other wives and don't want to see it either.

'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown says it's 'not normal' for him to 'babysit' his kids and he'd rather pay a nanny than lose out on work time
"Sister Wives."YouTube/TLC

"I literally have Christine telling me that the kids don't think I want to be around them," Kody said on the episode. "Um, I've stayed home all year. I didn't do anything. I didn't do any of my business things, I didn't see friends, I didn't travel with any of them."

He didn't deny Christine's claim, but seemed to imply that it's her fault he doesn't see her kids because she wouldn't comply with his strict COVID-19 rules.

New episodes of "Sister Wives" season 17 air Sundays at 10 p.m. on TLC.

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