Carrie Underwood’s career took off after winning season 4 of American Idol. She’s toured the world, released nine studio albums, and won 25 CMT Awards, 17 American Music Awards, 16 Academy of Country Music Awards, and eight Grammys, among dozens of others. While she’s been setting the world of country music on fire, she’s also married and had two sons.

Carrie and husband Mike Fischer are proud parents to Isaiah, 9, and Jacob, 5. Her Idol days and the beginning of her career came years before her boys came along, so they don’t exactly realize how big of a star she is. And that’s OK with Carrie.

Carrie Underwood Is Ready To Return To “American Idol“
Carrie’s returning to American Idol, this time as a judge for season 23. In an interview with E! News, she explained that her boys don’t get it.

“My son thinks I’m singing somewhere, so he’s like, ‘God please give her all the right words and help her sing great.’ “The boys’ dad jumped in. “Mike was like, ‘She’s not singing,’”

She added that she’s a different kind of idol to her sons. “They don’t really know what I do,” Carrie said. “They do, but they don’t, which I kind of love. I’m Mom to them.”

Carrie has loved motherhood since the very beginning. In 2016, she told Redbook Magazine that being a mom impacted her in the best way.

“I definitely feel like it’s changed me as a person,” she said. “I’m happier. I’m in a better mood a lot of the time.”

She added that people sometimes don’t realize she’s just like them. “I love being onstage, but that’s different. That’s not Carrie. That’s Carrie Underwood. The rest of my life, I feel like I’m incredibly disappointing to people. Like if I run into someone at the grocery store, I really don’t know what to say because I don’t have a microphone in my hand or bling on. They expect me to be ‘Carrie Underwood,’ but I’m just Carrie. I’m sorry!”