Coco Austin Cries as Daughter Chanel Starts Kindergarten: I Feel 'Empty'

Coco Austin’s 5-year-old daughter, Chanel, was both ‘excited’ and ‘nervous’ for her first day of kindergarten — read for more details

The time has come! Coco Austin dropped her 5-year-old daughter, Chanel, off at kindergarten on Wednesday, September 8.

How many moms can relate? #firstdayofschool #kindergarten #cantletyougo pic.twitter.com/5NkZ9IGfju

— Coco (@cocosworld) September 8, 2021

“This is a bittersweet day for me!” the model, 42, captioned an Instagram slideshow of the little one smiling in her school uniform. “I guess because Chanel won’t be with me every single breathing moment. She is my backbone and I feel empty without her. I knew this day would eventually come where she would start Kindergarten! Yeah, I was that mother that cried an hour after dropping her off in the car (and am still crying throughout the day).”

The Los Angeles native noted that “on the happy side,” Chanel was both “nervous” and “excited to go,” adding, “She’s been telling me for months now that she can’t wait to go to school. It a very special moment to see her in her uniform, so adorable.”

After posting photos of her daughter posing in her new outfit, Austin shared a video of herself crying in her car. “How many moms can relate?” she asked her followers as she fanned herself, looked out the window and sobbed against the steering wheel.

The actress, who shares Chanel with husband Ice-T, exclusively told Us Weekly in July that even though they aren’t “typical parents” and let their daughter stay up late, that would have to change when she started school.

“We’re more of night entertainment,” Austin said at the time of their usual schedule. “People have to understand, we have different times. Sometimes, I work until two in the morning. When [Ice-T’s] on tour, he’s doing a show at 12 at night. … So we transfer it a different way. Chanel gets up at 11 in the afternoon.”

The Playboy model went on to tell Us that Chanel still breast-fed. “Chanel still likes my boobs,” Austin said. “It’s a big bonding moment for a mother and your child. Why take that away from her? … If she doesn’t want it, all right, that’s where you stop it. But I’m not just going to say no.”

When Austin’s social media followers continued to bash her decision to nurse, Bachelor’s Bekah Martinez defended her.

“It’s not weird,” the “Chatty Broads” podcast cohost, who is the mother of Ruth, 2, and Franklin, 14 months, wrote via Instagram in August. “I think it’s awesome she’s comfortable enough to share [her] journey in our disgustingly judgmental society that has totally backwards views of when it’s appropriate to wean.”

Keep scrolling to see Chanel celebrating her latest milestone with her mom.