Hoda Kotb Says Her Daughter Is 'So Resilient' After Health Issue: 'She Can Withstand Anything'
Hoda Kotb is counting her blessings after her younger daughter, Hope, 4, went through a health crisis. (She also shares daughter Haley, 7, with ex Joel Schiffman.)
“We had a scary stretch,” Kotb, 59, told People. “Any parent who’s been through a scary thing with their child understands. It’s like you just can’t believe that your child’s sick. You can’t believe that there’s nothing you can do. You can’t believe that no matter what you do, you can’t will it away or protect her, or all the things that we’re supposed to be doing as parents. And it’s a position I’ve never found myself in.”
The TV host didn't divulge what exactly her daughter's diagnosis is, but she admitted that "things have stabilized" since then.
These days, she tries "to make everything normal,” she said. “It’s really tricky, because I don’t want Hope to get labeled. She’s a kid who is so vibrant, and most days everything is totally fine. I don’t want people to look at her differently.”
“I’m not going to put my worry on her. It’s too much for a kid to carry,” she continued. “Even just always saying, ‘How are you feeling? You feeling good today, honey?’ is saying, ‘I’m worried,’ because you’re not saying that about your other child. I’ll be discussing how it’s going with the nanny, the nurse, whoever, and if she’s there, she’s like, ‘Am I okay?’ I’m trying so hard to let her be a kid and not have all of the grown-up worries.”
Despite the bump in the road, Kotb is inspired by her daughter.
“I look at her, and I think, ‘Wow, you blossomed into this incredible kid who is so resilient and well-equipped for her whole life despite this stuff that has happened to her,’" she said. “She just demonstrates that when you have whatever she has inside of her, this will, this fight, this everything . . . she can withstand anything. This child is going to have the easiest adulthood because she’s had a tough go of it early on.”