Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Kids Why Mariah Carey Wants to Keep Her Twins Grounded: 'We Didn't Have Money' When I Was a Kid "They're a lot, but they give me so much love in return," pop star Mariah Carey tells PEOPLE is this week's issue of her twins Monroe and Moroccan, 8 By Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein is Editor-at-Large at PEOPLE and host of PEOPLE Every Day podcast, a daily dose of breaking news, pop culture and heartwarming human interest stories. Formerly Senior Editor of music content, she's also covered crime, human interest and television news throughout her many years with the brand. Prior to PEOPLE she's written for Essence, The Cape Times newspaper and Los Angeles Magazine among others. On-screen Rubenstein can be found featured on shows like Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight and she routinely hosts PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's star-studded Red Carpet Live specials. Follow the San Francisco native, Black Barbie collector and proud mom of two on Instagram and Twitter @janinerube People Editorial Guidelines and Justin Curto Justin Curto Justin Curto is a former intern at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2019. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 8, 2019 09:00AM EDT Monroe and Moroccan Scott live a much different childhood than their mother Mariah Carey did. “It’s hard, but I try to keep them grounded so they don’t think everything is just handed to them,” the pop star, 49, tells PEOPLE of her 8-year-old twins in this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday. “Right now it’s like, ‘I want this,’ and I’m like, ‘You’re asking me for something that costs $20.’ I can’t even imagine having, like, one dollar as a kid because we didn’t have money going around,” Carey continues. “So they have to appreciate those things.” When the singer-songwriter was growing up, her family moved throughout the New York City area. And today, she strives “to make the best of whatever situation I’m in.” “Sometimes I had a lot of fun, sometimes I didn’t,” Carey recalls. Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Parents newsletter. Mariah Carey Opens Up About Her “Tough” Childhood as She Celebrates 25 Years of Her Summer Camp Carey recently visited Camp Mariah, the career-awareness summer camp for low-income middle-schoolers in N.Y.C. that she sponsors through the Fresh Air Fund, to celebrate its 25th anniversary. She also brought her twins, whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon, to play at the camp for the day. “They’re a lot, but they give me so much love in return. I wouldn’t be the same person without them,” Carey says of the siblings, whom she affectionately calls Roc and Roe. “I think Nick and I have done pretty well in co-parenting, staying friends with each other so that we can talk.” RELATED VIDEO: Mariah Carey Is Grateful for Support After Revealing Battle with Bipolar Disorder Last year, Carey opened up about her childhood when she revealed her bipolar diagnosis exclusively to PEOPLE. “People who escaped the life I grew up with don’t want to go backward,” she said at the time. “My environment as a child didn’t just intensify my disease, it impacted my willingness to seek a long-term solution for it.” Mariah Carey/Instagram Added the “Fantasy” songstress, “The most important thing I can do for my children is give them what I didn’t really have: a chance to live in a safe and secure home surrounded by people who love and support them unconditionally.” For more from Mariah Carey, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.