Itโs been almost a year since Hoda Kotb split with her partner Joel Schiffman, making this their first holiday season separated. But theyโve kept things very amicable. Kotb adopted two girls and she and Schiffman are dedicated to giving them happy memories for the holidays. How?
Co-parenting is the name of the game for these two. Fortunately, the two have eight years of experience together and the Today anchor says theyโre drawing from their experience in the past to keep things happy as they continue not as a couple but as friends. Kotb spoke with Us Weekly to outline how they make it work.
Hoda Kotb explains how she and Joel Schiffman will make it work for the holidays
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โWe have a really great working relationship when it comes to holidays,โ Kotb revealed. โWe speak a lot and we make sure that we divvy it up so that it is great for him and great for us.โ After all, Haley is 5 and Hope is 3, ages that are very attuned to their home life and these next few months are supposed to be full of fun for kids, adults – families – alike. Fortunately, that family is pretty extensive as she and Schiffman are still in each otherโs lives and Kotb has support from her Today colleagues Jenna Bush Hager and Savannah Guthrie.
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โThe ultimate goal is when your girls are happy,โ Kotb confirmed. โThatโs what we both say, โHappy girls, thatโs all we want.โ And thatโs what we have. So they enjoy spending time with their dad and they enjoy spending time with me and everybody on my side. So itโs been really good [and] we have a nice mix.โ
Happy holidays for Hope and Haley
While Kotb focuses on a parenting partnership with Schiffman, she also wants to instill some important lessons about the holidays for the girls. โThe one thing I really wanna remind my kids, โcause I think sometimes we actually have to force our families to get together to spend time โ [with] my mom, my sister, my brother, the kids and all that stuff โ so the thing I think I wanna just stress to them is, like, we are a unit together and this period matters,โ she emphasized. โThereโs always this [saying] about โNo one in, no one out on a big day,โ like, just us for this. So, thatโs kind of the tradition weโre trying to pass along.โ
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Kotb doesnโt want to rush any of this – the girls growing up and the season of giving – but the kids have other plans. While at FAO Schwartz, her daughter expressed an interest in Barbies – specifically the Dream House – much to Kotbโs surprise. Yes, family togetherness is nice, mom, but when is Santa getting here and is he checking his list twice?