Many moms struggle to say no, but not Kate Hudson. In fact, the actress admits she used to be a pushover before her five-year-old son Ryder Robinson came along!

“I had to learn to say ‘no.’ That came very easily once I became a mother. ‘Can I have candy?’ ‘No.’”

Kate says she’s a strict mom, following in the footsteps of her own famous parents Goldie Hawn and Goldie’s partner Kurt Russell.

“My parents were very tough and there’s something to be said for that. My parents were really hard on me and yet they are my favorite people in the world and we have the greatest relationship. That’s how I’d like to raise my child. You love them but you have to put your foot down.”

It sounds smart to me!

Kate Hudson is busily promoting her new film Bride Wars, but she’s already thinking of her next project: some time off!

“I’m ready to have a good, solid six months with my son [five-year-old Ryder Robinson] … I just want to do nothing for a little while,” she admitted to The Scotsman.

Exactly where they’ll spend their downtime remains to be seen. Kate was raised in Los Angeles, but says she feels “way more at home in New York.” However she feels that raising a Big Apple baby is much harder than it is on the West Coast.

“Los Angeles is actually nice with children because they can enjoy the outdoors more. Ryder can do activities all year round in California, such as soccer in the winter. On the East Coast it’s harder, unless your kids are into ice hockey.”

I’m sure no matter where they go, or what they do, Kate and Ryder will have an awesome vacation!

Image source: splashnewsonline.com

The marriage may not have lasted, but Kate Hudson has no regrets about her whirlwind romance with Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson. After all, it gave her five-year-old son Ryder!

In a recent interview with The Times Online Kate says parenthood was on their mind right from the start.

“When I met Chris it was like nothing else; I had no question that I was going to have a kid with him,” she explained. “Every rule went out the window.

“I just had no question about him, and I still don’t. He’s a permanent fixture in my life, but I believe our love changed its form, it shifted…I think we were meant to have a child, and we have this amazing little boy together and therefore we’ll be together our entire lives.”

It might have happened five years ago, but Kate says the memories of her labor and emergency c-section have made her view life and death very differently.

“I definitely started thinking about it because I just experienced birth,” she says. “I experienced the closest thing to death that I am going to experience until I die.”

This experience has given the actress a new perspective on life, although she has to remind herself of this every now and then!

“I forget all the time and I get wrapped up in stuff, especially when things get a little spread out, like you’re trying to be the best mom you can be, trying to have a career, trying to be a friend, trying to be a girlfriend. You have to go back to that place, wait a minute, bring yourself back, it doesn’t matter, we’re all going to die. And one day all this will be gone and what does it mean?”

Image source: Newscom

Like most single mommies, Kate Hudson plans her day around the activities of her son Ryder Russell Robinson.

Their day starts with a great big hug, which makes saying goodbye a little more difficult!

“When he climbs into bed with me, wraps his arms around me and says, ‘Mommy, the sun’s up! It’s a beautiful morning!’ I’m sorry, do I really want to go to work then?” joked Kate.

Of course she doesn’t! But Ryder has school, a time Kate takes advantage of!

“My whole schedule revolves around the time he’s home before and after school; then from 9-3, I am running around L.A. doing a million things,” she says.

She might be a superstar, but Kate’s life sounds refreshingly normal!

Kate Hudson and her son Ryder didn’t look very happy at all when photographed in New York yesterday. If I were heading out for lunch in the Big Apple I’d be all smiles! Lighten up guys!

Kate Hudson kept hold of her son Ryder’s hands as they walked in the West Village yesterday. This shapeless gray dress does nothing for Kate, but Ryder’s looking as cute as ever!

Black Crowes rocker Chris Robinson took his son Ryder for a tour of New York City. The pair visited Rocco’s Pastry Shop and Espresso Cafe on their travels. Ryder looks so cute on his daddy’s shoulders! What a way to travel!

Image source: Christopher Peterson/Buzz Foto