Last week marked six years since Tiger Woodscheating scandal came to light; at the time, his two children with his ex-wife Elin Nordegren — now eight-year-old Sam and six-year-old Charlie — may have been too young to understand, but now that they’re older, the golf pro is making sure they know what really went down before they stumble upon rumors.

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The 39-year-old opened up to Time about how he’s approaching the subject with his young children.

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Tiger and his daughter Sam.

“I’ve taken the initiative with the kids, and told them upfront, ‘Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes,’” he said.

“I just want them to understand before they get to the Internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something. I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I’ll just tell them the real story. But meanwhile, it’s just, ‘Hey Daddy made some mistakes. But it’s okay. We’re all human. We all mistakes.’ … I was to blame, and so I’m taking initiative with the kids. I’d rather have it come from me, as the source. And I can tell them absolutely everything, so they hear it from me.”

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Elin Nordegren.

Though Tiger and Elin, 35, divorced in 2010 after multiple mistresses came forward, he gushed about his relationship with his ex-wife and their dedication to co-parenting — even calling the supermodel one of his “best friends.”

“[Trying to make it work] was too tough, too tough. But now, in hindsight, as years and years have gone by, we’re like best friends. It’s fun,” he said.

“She talks to me about her life, I talk to her about my life. We try and help each other out on all occasions. And we work through it with the kids, the parenting program. She is one of my best friends now, and it’s all because of my kids. We’ve worked so hard, and I’ve shown her how much I love them. We’ve worked so hard at co-parenting, to make sure that their lives are fantastic.”

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