Hoda Kotb’s daughters Haley and Hope will unbox an equal amount of presents on Christmas morning. But in Jenna Bush Hager’s family, it’s a free-for-all.
“Counting gifts is important,” Hoda told Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna. Translation: There will be tears if one sister gets more than the other.
“I didn’t count the gifts,” Jenna replied. “I have no idea. And I will say, one of my children may have a little less than the others!”
“I won’t say his name,” Hoda teased, referring to Jenna’s only son, Hal, 5. Jenna and her husband, Henry Hager, are also parents of Mila, 11, and Poppy, 9.
While chatting with Hoda, Jenna said she was “pretty sure” that she got fewer presents than her twin sister, Barbara, when they were growing up.
“And I’m pretty sure that by the end of Christmas, I had a bow wrapped around my head and I was pouting in a corner somewhere,” Jenna recalled, with a laugh.
But don’t worry about Hal. Jenna later noted that got she got her children a “similar amount” of stuff. And according to Jenna, Hal will be all smiles on Dec. 25, as long as Santa Claus brings him “medium-sized water guns.”
Hoda’s girls Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, have requested magic sets and … makeup. But the latter is not happening.
“All these little kids, like young kids, 7,8, 9, are into skincare and stuff. But we don’t have that in my house,” Hoda said during a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “That’s a big no!”
In October, Jenna received an early Christmas present from Haley: a penguin ornament with the word “Jenna” written across its belly. That month, Hoda explained the hilarious story behind the ornament.
“So we were in Value Drugs, and they have all of the ornaments with the names on them. And Haley found one that spells her name the way she does,” Hoda said.