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Hoda Kotb has revealed that she and her three-year-old daughter Hope secretly buy meals for strangers every time they eat together at a restaurant.
The 58-year-old co-host of Today opened up about his special lore while interviewing Mel Robbins for the third season of his podcast, ‘Making space with Hoda Kotb‘, which fell on Monday.
“Yesterday I took my daughter to dinner because we have a date,” he explained. “And when we go out, we pick someone at the restaurant who we’re going to buy her food from.”
Hoda Kotb, 58, shared that her three-year-old daughter Hope chooses a stranger to buy her a meal every time they go out to eat at a restaurant.
Kotb (pictured eating with her mother, sister and daughters) spoke about their special tradition on her ‘Making Space’ podcast, saying they keep their generosity under wraps.
Kotb always lets Haley choose who they invite that day, but she insists they keep their generosity a secret.
‘My daughter chooses because we don’t say a word. Nobody ever knows. This is how we do it,’ she said.
The mother detailed how her youngest son chooses the person to buy a meal for.
Then she says, “Okay, Mom, what about her? She’s sitting by herself.” I said, “That’s it.” So we do our thing and leave,” she explained.
However, Kotb admitted that her daughter has a hard time with the secrecy part.
The Today host admitted that Hope has a hard time with the secrecy part, but tells her youngest daughter that “sometimes we just do things to help.”
Kotb’s five-year-old daughter, Haley, used money from her job to buy ice cream for her neighborhood friend Mo (pictured) last summer.
‘She always says, ‘Can we say something?’ I said, “No, we can’t. That’s the magic. It’s like a magic trick,” she said.
The journalist wants to teach her children the importance of being kind and generous without expecting anything in return.
“I tell my daughter that sometimes we just do things to help,” she said.
Kotb also has a five-year-old daughter, Haley, who had a heart of gold just like her younger sister.
During the summer, the mother proudly shared how Haley used money from her job to buy an ice cream cone for a man named Mo, who runs a neighborhood diner.
“He got his money out of his Ziploc and got the biggest hug,” he recalled. “Afterward, we sat down—Hope, Haley, Mo, and me—and he said, ‘Do you know why this cone is so special today?’ And Haley said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Because it’s my birthday”.
Kotb spent her first Christmas as a single mom with her mother, sister and daughters last month after splitting with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.
The mother and her daughters later called jewelry designer Jennifer Miller in 2023.
“I was thinking, like when you do something nice, the universe cooperates,” he added. ‘Like it was her birthday that day with the ice cream?’
Kotb noted that Hope is just as sweet and generous.
“Hope does kind things every day,” she said. ‘If you had a blueberry in your hand… and you said, ‘Can I have that?’ She was like, “Yes please, this is yours.” As if she gave it away.
Kotb shares the upbringing of her daughters with her ex-boyfriend Joel Schiffman. They were together for eight years before she announced their separation from her in January 2022.
Last month marked her first holiday season with her daughters as a single mother of two, and she shared photos of her celebrations on Instagram.
Kotb and her daughters spent Christmas with their mother, Sameha, and sister, Hala, before celebrating 2023 with jewelry designer Jennifer Miller.
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