Keke Palmer details being a ‘territorial mom’ as son learns ‘real things’

Keke Palmer just admitted that she is "territorial as a mom."

The 33-year-old star has Leo, three, with her ex-partner Darius Jackson, and Keke has now opened up about her experiences of motherhood.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Keke explained, "He is using big words. He learned how to say tarantula — come on now! That’s a big word, ‘tarantula'. He said destination.”

"He’s talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. He’s learning real things,” she added.

Keke explained that Leo copies some of her specific expressions, saying, "I take him to the arcade and we’ll be playing the Jurassic Park game, and he loves when I narrate it, but sometimes I go too far. We’re playing, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, go under. You’re not going to get my son,’ and then he says, ‘You’re not going to get my son.'"

Keke then confessed to being "territorial" as a mother.

The Hollywood star shared, "I’m so territorial as a mom, so Leo hears me often say, ‘Not my son,’ so he’s attached the emotion of ‘son’ to someone that you love so much. So my niece, his cousin, when my sister yells at her, he’ll go over to my sister and say, ‘Don’t talk to my son like that.’”

"It’s the cutest thing ever. And he’s like, ‘That’s my son.’ It’s like he’s acting like me about him, but it’s like his ‘son,’" she expressed.

Keke also wants her son to know that "happiness is his to take,” and wants Leo to recognise that he "can always become someone new."

When asked what she hopes Leo learns from her, Keke previously told Extra, "Just to never be afraid to evolve.”

"I think we get so caught up in our storylines, and even when they’re tough, we have a hard time getting out of them, but you can always shape-shift. You can always become someone new and let your happiness, let your joy and your peace, be that guiding force,” she said.

"I want him to know that happiness is his to take, but we got to take it, you know?" Keke Palmer mentioned as she expressed the hopes she has for her son, Leo.