Hoda Kotb Shares Her Trick for Coping with Being Away from Her Daughters

Hoda Kotb has a few tricks up her sleeve as she gets ready to leave for Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

During a Monday, July 22 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the mom of two, 59, shared that she has a special activity planned for her family of three to stay connected while Kotb is in Paris for the Olympics. Kotb said she will be making a “Love You Loops” chain made out of paper for her daughters Hope, 4, and Haley, 7.

“I do a loop a day where we hide a little something like stickers or hair ties, and then they know how many days are left,” explained Kotb, who will be traveling to Paris with co-hosts Savannah Guthrie, Al Rocker and Craig Melvin to cover the athletic games from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, Aug. 11.

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In June, the mom of two chatted with guest host Sheinelle Jones on Today with Hoda & Jenna about her plans that weekend, revealing that she and her daughters went skinny dipping.

“We skinny-dipped! It was so fun! My kids were screaming. They were literally shrieking with delight,” Kotb shared on the episode.

“You went skinny dipping with your children?” Jones asked in disbelief. “Yeah, yeah,” Kotb replied.

Later in the episode, she shared more details about the experience. “We got out the towels, we’re right there. We were like running inside, screaming the whole time,” Kotb recalled.

“Did they just have the best time?” Jones asked. “It was so fun,” the mom of two replied.

“Just tell them there’s a time and a place,” Jones laughed, later praising Kotb for being “such a good mom.”

In April, Kotb brought her daughter Haley along with her as Today with Hoda & Jenna celebrated Bring Your Kid to Work Day. When the episode began, Kotb and co-host Jenna Bush Hager entered the set with a group of kids from the staff, including Haley.

After they got settled, all the kids went around and introduced themselves. “Hi, my name is Haley and my mom is Hoda Kotb,” Haley said when her turn came around.

Asked what her favorite part of being at work with her mom was, Haley adorably responded, “That I get to see Mommy.” Bush Hager, whose three kids did not come with her, then asked Haley, “Who’s the boss: Me or mommy?”

“You,” Haley quipped, much to the frustration of Kotb. “This has been happening all day,” Kotb sighed.