Hoda Kotb has no problem clearing up any confusion about her role as a mother, especially when it comes to people who mistakenly believe she’s the grandmother of her two young daughters.

During the segment Today with Hoda and Jenna on Tuesday, Dec. 17, Kotb, 60, shared her experience with a viewer’s question about the etiquette of correcting such assumptions.

“Yes, you should. Yes, you should,” Kotb said confidently when asked if moms should address the reminders. She explained that this happened to her and revealed that someone once asked her if she was the grandmother of her daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

“I said, ‘No, I’m their mom,'” she recalled, admitting that while she doesn’t mind correcting people, she understands why it can be frustrating for others.

Kotb went on to explain that she prefers to address the mistake because she wants her children to think of her as their mother, not their grandmother. “For the sake of your children, you should say, ‘Oh, not really…,'” she advised. “But don’t be offended either,” Kotb added. “Some moms are older, some younger, some taller, some shorter,” she continued.

Her co-host Jenna Bush Hager, 43, lightened the mood with a joke about how some moms are just tired, jokingly adding that “some just want to crawl into the pantry and eat stringy cheese.”

Kotb’s daughters were both adopted later in her life, with Haley joining the family in 2017 and Hope following in 2019. She and her then-partner Joel Schiffman adopted the girls together, though they later split in 2022 after being together more than eight years. flight.

The long-time presenter announced that she will leave her Today role in January 2025 to focus on spending more time with her two daughters. The family recently moved from the big city of Manhattan to the suburbs, where she “brought coffee, wore sneakers, and went to school with the kids! Like normal people! It was amazing!” September Today with Hoda and Jenna.