Yolanda Hadid "set her kids free" when they were 12.

Yolanda Hadid

Yolanda Hadid

The 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star - who has Gigi, 22, Bella, 20, and Anwar, 18, with her ex-husband Mohamed Hadid - felt it was important for her kids to learn to become "independent human beings" as soon as they entered their teenage years.

She said: "I think I'm a disciplined mom versus a strict mom. But also, that job - the disciplining was from birth until about 12, and at 12 I set my kids free and they learned to become independent human beings.

"And after that, it's just catching them when they fall. I don't run their lives, I don't make decisions for them. I'm just their energetic anchor, and I'm here for them to catch them when they fall."

And Yolanda credits her own mother - who raised her and her brother single handedly - for teaching her how to be a good mom herself.

She added: "Seeing [my mom] get back up and raising us as a single mom and picking up the pieces and not whining about it ... she was just an amazing mother, and I've learned everything that I know from her."

The 53-year-old star is so proud of her three children for all they have achieved both personally and professionally.

She told People magazine: "I saw my son yesterday take this huge crystal and plant it in a tree on the property. I am just so proud of the extraordinary human being that he's grown into at age 18, and having such high consciousness about healing the earth and the world.

"And seeing Bella ride a horse this week, I just smile and I go, 'I'm proud that I raised them in a barn and that at this point of their life, they can go back to something that brings them real joy.' Because the fame and all that nonsense is not what's gonna grow your soul."