Nicole Richie Wants Stable Childhood For Her Kids, The Upbringing She Didn't Get

Nicole Richie has mellowed down over the years - focusing on her role as business woman, wife and mother - and now she said she wants her two kids to enjoy the kind of childhood she never had.

Richie, who turned 31 on Sept. 21, told DuJour magazine that her own experiences being raised in the entertainment industry affected her decisions as a parent and how she chooses to raise her own children.

Richie and her husband, Good Charlotte band member Joel Madden, are parents to 4-year-old daughter, Harlow Winter Kate, and 3-year-old son Sparrow James Midnight.

Much of Richie's childhood was spent following her father, the famed R&B singer Lionel Richie, around the world during his tours. She said she doesn't want that kind of nomadic life for her own children.

"One of the biggest differences in the way I'm raising my kids versus the way I was raised is that I was on tour a lot. I don't really do that with my kids," Richie said. "It's important to me that they have stability. I like them to be home."

The fashion designer and tabloid fixture said being away from home during her younger years made things tough on her.

"I was taken out of school and had tutors," she told DuJour. "By the time my father went onstage, I was asleep."

Though Richie said she works hard to be the best mother she can be, she admitted there's no textbook way to raise a child the right way.

"There's no right or wrong way to raise a family," Richie said. "Look, I don't know anyone who can say they don't just try and do the best that they can do."

Richie rose to the spotlight in the early 2000s when she appeared on the reality show "The Simple Life" with her former best friend Paris Hilton. She quickly became a regular in gossip magazines as she partied hard with celebrity friends like Lindsay Lohan and became so thin that she faced speculation of an eating disorder.

She has since turned her focus to fashion, designing two lines called House of Harlow 1960 and Winter Kate. She also recently got attention for wearing a custom-made $8,000 dress to the ALMA Awards in California.