Jenna Bush Hager opened up about how difficult it was to be away from her kids on their first day back at school following a fun-filled summer break. The mom of three revealed on Thursday’s episode of Jenna & Friends that she was forced to miss the major milestone due to work commitments, but still found time to connect with the trio in her own way. She shares Mila, 12, Poppy, 10, and Hal, six, with her husband, Henry Hager, and often talks about her life as a working mother on the show.
Major milestone
While speaking to guest host Willie Geist on Today, Jenna shared a photo of her three kids ahead of their school day, holding handmade flags detailing which year group they were entering into. “I made them hold those signs,” she explained. “Kinder, seventh grade and fourth grade, which I can’t believe. But they had such a good day!”
“You know, I think sometimes, and I know you’ve felt this, as a parent, we can’t be at everything,” she continued. “So to miss the first day was hard, but the other thing is, kids are so resilient. Humans are so resilient.” Thankfully, the TV personality was able to call them after school to check in.
“I called and I’m like, ‘Hey, how was the first day?’ And Hal was like, ‘It was so different than pre-K. Kindergarten is so much harder,'” she recalled. “And then I talked to Mila, and she was like, ‘I already have homework! Seventh grade is so hard!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, these kids are alright.'”
Growing pains
Jenna has been open in the past about how emotional it is to see her children maturing so quickly, and shared an anecdote on Today about coming to a sad realization during a family outing. The former First Daughter and her husband took Mila and Poppy to a Gracie Abrams concert in July, which led to an incredibly sentimental experience for Jenna.
“It was so much fun and I don’t like…I’m going through something, obviously,” she began. “My oldest is going into middle school. For whatever reason, we sat down, and this is like, think about how embarrassing this is as a child. And just seeing how excited they were for her. I started crying. I was like, ‘This is so beautiful’…To see this concert through their eyes.”
© InstagramShe added that Henry went to get drinks for the family, which left her to think about how quickly Mila was growing up. “I was just thinking, like, this could be the last time my seventh grader is cool with sitting next to her mom at a concert. In a few years, she’s going to be going with all of her buddies and not mommy,” Jenna shared.
© Instagram“And [Henry] got back and he was like, ‘Are you crying again?’ And I was like, I just was thinking time is going so fast. And she’ll sit next to me and hold my hand a little,” the 43-year-old recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Don’t cry. She’s humiliated. You know, you want to keep her next to you.’ But it was so fun.” The family of five recently returned from a lavish summer vacation in Rome, with Jenna sharing a series of sweet photos of their time together in the stunning city.
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