Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager had a candid yet hilarious conversation about getting involved with their kids’ classrooms during a recent broadcast of Today.
The hosts watched a TikTok from an exasperated mother who shared that she preferred to donate money to her kids’ classrooms than volunteer in other ways.
“I relate to her and I feel bad because I, also, was a teacher,” Bush Hager admitted. She said she always recommended that parents who wanted to get more involved should check in with the teachers. “But I understand what she’s saying. Being a class mom is real stressful.”
Kotb then asked her co-host, “I’ve never been a class mom. What do you do when you’re a class mom?”
“Well, I’ve never been one either,” Bush Hager replied, causing Kotb to laugh.
Later in the discussion, Bush Hager said it was “amazing” that some mothers can get involved with their kids’ classrooms, but added that it can lead to some “internalized” guilt. “I’m trying not to feel bad about just being average,” she said.
“My kids like to say, ‘Mom’s not a class mom, mom could never be a class mom,’” Bush Hager recalled. “And [my daughter] Mila’s like, ‘Don’t worry, I’m in sixth grade, I don’t want you to be one anymore.’ But in first grade it would have been great.”
Kotb, who recently moved to the suburbs from New York City, said she wanted to “try to get more involved.”
“Wait, don’t say that so loud, someone might hear you!” Bush Hager joked in return. “What kind of involvement, like a bake sale?”
Kotb explained, “You know, we keep talking about the importance of community. I think that’s important to have. And I realized I never really had that when it comes to the school stuff because we’ve been so busy and there is something kind of cool about that.” She then added to Bush Hager, “Don’t make me feel pressured. Now I feel like I have to do everything.”
“You just said it out loud, I didn’t make you say anything!” Bush Hager replied.
But the Today hosts agreed, noting that even the “super moms also have it hard.”
Today with Hoda & Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.