Gigi Hadid’s adorable school-day tradition for rarely-seen daughter Khai, 5, she shares with Zayn Malik

Gigi Hadid may be the queen of the catwalk, but she is also the mother of her adorable daughter, Khai, whom she welcomed with her ex-boyfriend, Zayn Malik

And while life is certainly busy for the supermodel, there is one way she ensures she stays connected to her little girl even while she’s at school.

On Friday, Gigi shared the adorable note she included in Khai’s packed lunch. It read: “Fun fact Friday: Did you know woodpeckers’ tongues wrap around their brains! I love you!!! Mama,” next to which Gigi drew a love heart.

The photo also showed the contents of Khai’s lunchbox, which was packed with healthy snacks.

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Khai’s outing with Zayn

The update came just a couple of weeks after Khai’s dad and former One Direction star Zayn shared a very rare photo of them enjoying some quality time together.

The former boyband star, 33, could be seen holding his little girl’s hand as they walked towards an IMAX cinema. 

Khai, who was facing away from the camera in the candid snap, looked incredibly sweet, her long brunette hair falling just past her shoulders. Meanwhile, she rocked cool patterned trousers and a pair of Jordans.

Meanwhile, Zayn wore an oversized Balenciaga T-shirt and a backwards cap. “Omg she’s so big now, time really does fly,” one fan said of Khai. A second added a similar message, noting how big Khai is now, alongside an emoji on the brink of tears.

Gigi and Zayn’s co-parenting journey

The former couple – who welcomed Khai in 2020 – dated for five years before their sudden split in 2021, following an altercation between Zayn and Gigi’s mother, Yolanda. The father of one was charged with four counts of harassment after the incident, and Gigi and Zayn went their separate ways. 

The supermodel opened up about her relationship with the British singer in an interview with Vogue, sharing that they had mastered the art of co-parenting their young child.

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“Zayn and I do our custody schedules months in advance,” Gigi revealed. “That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t change here and there, but we help each other out and have each other’s backs.” 

She added that the pair had reached a new stage of friendship full of “love and a feeling of camaraderie.” 

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The 31-year-old called out the intense media scrutiny of their relationship following the incident in 2021. “There is the hard part of the world knowing this much, and thinking they know everything,” she said. 

“And at the end of the day, we’re not interested in giving everyone our whole story. What we are interested in is raising our daughter together, with so much respect for each other, and not just as co-­parents, but what we’ve been through together.”