Jana Kramer Recalls Sacrificing 'Everything' for Her Kids Amid Mike Caussin Divorce
Mike Caussin and Jana Kramer
Jana Kramer will do just about anything when it comes to her kids.
While reflecting on the process of settling her divorce with ex-husband Mike Caussin, Kramer said she had to give up "everything" in order to ensure getting more time with the pair's two children: daughter Jolie, 7, and son Jace, 4.
The "Let It Burn" songstress—who is currently expecting her third baby with fiancé Alan Russell—details the situation in her newly-released memoir, The Next Chapter, which officially hit shelves on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
In an excerpt from the book obtained by PEOPLE, Kramer, 39, detailed her 2021 divorce from the former NFL player, which they decided to settle on their own terms.
The One Tree Hill alum said she made a spreadsheet to figure out what her ex should receive in the divorce, dividing the possibilities into three options: sticking with the terms of their postnup agreement, giving Caussin half of their assets or giving him everything.
"I called him later that night to see if he wanted to review our options together. An hour later, he rang the doorbell," she writes in her new book. "We sat in the bedroom, and I watched as he looked over the spreadsheet. He put down my computer and immediately brought up childcare."
That's when Kramer knew it was going to come down to either two things: more time with her children or more money. "I wanted more time with the kids, and he knew that," the book reads.
Ultimately, the singer writes, "I agreed to give him what was spelled out in the Everything column, and I walked away with more time with the kids."
As for what was included in the "Everything" column, Kramer revealed that she agreed to give Caussin the earnings from "every commercial project we had done together—every Instagram ad, every podcast episode ad, every penny of the advance for our book and then some."
Even though Kramer knows she could've potentially won a better settlement and had to pay less to her ex if they went to court, she insisted that staying out of court was the best decision for both of them.
"That night we acted like adults and did what was best for the family," she writes.
But she also revealed a particularly painful memory from that time, noting that when Caussin left her house that night, he turned to her and said, "You know, I never really loved you."
"Hearing those words confirmed that little voice in my head that had been telling me that everything he did and said in our marriage was because he didn’t love me," the excerpt continues. "That I had made it all up, that our marriage was just a great lie. I felt deep sadness for what we both had lost."
The Next Chapter: Making Peace with Hard Memories, Finding Hope All Around Me, and Clearing Space for Good Things to Come is now available for purchase.
