Hoda Kotb and her 5-year-old daughter, Haley, were enjoying a lunch date earlier this summer when her daughter had a meltdown.
Hoda revealed she was unsure what triggered Haley to get upset but that it was “wild” and “totally out of control.”
Hoda Kotb Reveals Unconventional Way She Squashed Her Daughter’s Public Meltdown
“It was just the two of us and I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’” she admitted.
Then she noticed two moms sitting at a neighboring booth with their young kids. The women kept shooting her sympathetic glances.
“They were giving me a look like, ‘We know,’” Hoda shared. That’s when Hoda decided she and Haley would get up and join them.
“I go, ‘Pick up your food, we’re gonna go sit with these people over there,’” Hoda revealed. A very confused Haley grabbed her plate and followed Hoda.
“We carried our hamburgers over to these strangers… it was really weird for sure,” she confessed. “But all of a sudden, the temperature went down.”
Hoda said a “distraction” is what Haley needed and quickly turned her attitude around.
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“When there’s a public meltdown, I don’t know what to do,” Hoda, who is also the mother of 3-year-old Hope, said. “But know that every now and then, there’s somebody who kind of extends a hand.”
Savannah Guthrie chimed in, saying she interprets tantrums much like weather systems.
“They move in and they move out and you adapt to them. You can’t tell the sky to stop raining. Get an umbrella,” Savannah told TODAY Parents in a joint interview with Hoda.
“You’re not yelling at the rain, ‘Stop raining!’ You just need to withstand it.”
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She said to ignore any disapproving glances.
“Your kid melting down is not a reflection of you,” Savannah explained. “It’s just an indication that they are a kid.”
Earlier this month, Hoda revealed to TODAY Parents that she tries not to focus on her age when it comes to parenting, sharing how “no one knows” when their time is up. Hoda’s father, A.J., died when he was 51, which has taught her to celebrate each day.
“Do I want to see my daughters get married? Yes. Do I want to see them graduate? Absolutely. I remain optimistic that all these things will be ahead,” she explained. “But I’m not going to try and game out what I may or may not witness. I’m just glad that I have two girls who will have each other forever. So I try to keep that in my back pocket.”
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