Britney Spears has been working on her relationship with sons Sean Preston and Jayden since their move to Hawaii.

“The boys can be cold, but they respond occasionally,” a source exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly while noting that Spears, 42, reaches out to them “at least once a month.”

Last year, Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden, 17, moved to the Aloha State with their father, Kevin Federline, whom Spears was married to from 2004 to 2007. Spears has not seen her sons since they relocated across the Pacific.

“Sean Preston and Jayden are at the age where they’re busy with school, friends and trying to adjust to their new life,” the insider explains. “[Plus] they haven’t had a bond with their mom since they were very young.”

Despite not being on the best of terms, Spears is working on strengthening her bond with her sons — and the effort has not gone unnoticed. Federline’s lawyer Mark Vincent tells Us that communication between the pop star and her boys has improved from what it was before they relocated to Hawaii. “I do think it’s a positive sign,” he says.

A second source tells Us that for Spears, “wanting to see” her sons is “a topic of daily conversation” since she “misses her kids immensely.”

Throughout most of her children’s lives, Britney was under conservatorship by her father, Jamie Spears. The conservatorship was filed after Britney experienced personal struggles following her divorce from Federline, 46. In November 2021, a judge terminated the conservatorship.

Nearly one year after the ruling, Jayden opened up about his estranged relationship with his mom.

“I think Mom has struggled giving us both attention and showing us equal love and I don’t think she showed enough to Preston and I feel really bad for that,” Jayden said to The Daily Mail in September 2022. “We’ve both been through so much pressure in the past that this is our safe place now, to process all the emotional trauma we’ve been through to heal, heal our mental state. If I complained, she went after [my brother]. I feel guilty, so I am there for him. Mom has treated me better.”

After Jayden spoke out against his mother, the Grammy winner took to social media to weigh in on her son’s feelings.

“I hope my kids one day understand my reasoning of my play in water revealing myself as any woman would being held under blankets and supervision under the conservatorship!!!” she said via Instagram at the time. “I say to my son Jayden that I send all the love in the world to you every day for the rest of my life!!!! My love for my children has no boundaries and it deeply saddens me to know his outcry of saying I wasn’t up to his expectations of a mother …. and maybe one day we can meet face to face and talk about this openly!”