A very merry Mariah Carey Szn to you all! It’s been Mariah Carey Szn since November 1st, but I’m glad at least one magazine is dedicating their holiday issue to Mrs. Christmas herself. Mariah covers W Magazine and the editorial is a throwback to some of her most iconic looks and images. It’s a great editorial, honestly, and she looks great. Even though Mariah makes a big deal about how no question is off-limits, I’m struck by the fact that she manages to make it sound like she’s raising the twins – Moroccan and Monroe – as a single mother. Is Nick Cannon in their lives at all at this point? The question is unasked and unanswered. Anyway, this piece was just Mariah being Mariah. She even said “I don’t know her” about TIME.

Her childhood: “It was an extremely dysfunctional childhood, to the point where it’s shocking that I made it out of that at all… There were no role models for people who were clearly mixed or, you know, light-skinned or whatever we were categorizing it as then, so I didn’t know who to look up to when I was growing up. It was difficult.”

The diva thing: “There are things people are not aware of, because this whole quote-unquote ‘diva’ thing is always what people see first. Yes, I play into it. And yes, part of that is real. I can’t help it. Like, what do you do if you grew up with an opera singer for a mother, who went to Juilliard and made her debut at Lincoln Center? There’s just a certain amount that is going to emerge. So, yes, it’s just an affectation, and sometimes it’s purposely done, and sometimes it’s just, like, you know, a response.”

She’s a vampire: “Typically, I’m nocturnal and I wake up late to just experience life as, possibly, a vampire. I don’t know. My friends and I laugh and joke about that, because it’s true. I’m just much more creative at night; I work better at night. I come to life.

Christmas in her household: “I create my own Christmas moment. I mean, Santa Claus visits us. He comes with his reindeer. I am not exaggerating—this is the truth. By the way, before my kids were born, I did all the same types of things. That’s just how it is with me and Santa and the reindeer.

Her twins Moroccan and Monroe are 11: “Darling, look, I know a lot of the time people are like, “Oh, yay! Look at her! She’s, like, so festive and such a Christmas girl,” or whatever. But, really, Christmas makes me happy. People think I had this princess-style life or whatever, a kind of fairy-tale existence where I just emerged, like, “Here I am!” And that is not what it is. I doubt you have enough time to write about all that, so we won’t go into it. But when you grow up with a messed-up life and then you’re able to have this transformation where you can make your life what you want it to be? That is joy for me. That’s why I want my kids to have everything they can have. I want them to be able to understand that they can be anything they want to be…. I love giving them gifts, because the act of opening up a ton of presents is something I wasn’t able to do as a child.

Her age: “I’m essentially 12…I don’t acknowledge time. I don’t know her.”

[From W Magazine]

It strikes me that the diva thing is an affectation, as she says, but it’s something she puts on to protect herself when she’s uncomfortable or afraid. The diva thing is her armor for the world. Anyway, I believe that Moroccan and Monroe are probably pretty well-adjusted for two kids who have a direct relationship with Santa Claus. She goes all out for Christmas, and I bet the kids are generally pretty spoiled, but again… I’m left with the impression that she’s an engaged mother and it’s not all about gifts. She talks at length about trying to teach her kids about music and the greats (to her, that means Prince and Aretha Franklin). I also could not live the vampire lifestyle. My ass is too old.

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Cover & IG courtesy of W magazine.