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"I left the set at 7:30 and I live about 20 minutes from 30 Rock, so I zipped home, got my kids their backpacks. They were all ready. They were busting," Kotb shared.
Hoda Kotb wasn't about to miss her kids' first day of school!
The TODAY show co-anchor left Wednesday's broadcast early to take daughters Haley, 6, and Hope, 4, to their first day of school.
Kotb kicked off the 7 a.m. ET hour alongside Savannah Guthrie, but made her exit just before 7:25 a.m.
"Hoda, you’re on the run — it’s the first day of school," Guthrie told Kotb after teasing the stories to come.
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View Story"Byeee! See ya later!," Kotb said to TODAY stars Craig Melvin and Al Roker as she exited the studio. In her absence, Melvin stepped in to co-anchor alongside Guthrie.
"I’m taking my kids to school!" Kotb exclaimed before seemingly asking producers, "Okay, can I leave right now?"
"Yes give them a hug for us," Guthrie replied, prompting Kotb to speed out of her chair and make her way to morning drop off.
Kotb marked the major milestone on Instagram Wednesday with a quote from Dr. Suess' book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!, that read, "You're off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!"
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"Happy first day of school! Xo," she captioned the post.
Kotb returned in time for the 10 a.m. ET airing of "TODAY with Hoda & Jenna," where she detailed the "fun" morning to co-host Jenna Bush Hager.
"I was so excited," Kotb, who was accompanied by ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, for Wednesday morning's drop-off gushed. "So, I left the set at 7:30 and I live about 20 minutes from 30 Rock, so I zipped home, got my kids their backpacks. They were all ready. They were busting."
She continued, "Haley's going into first grade and Hope is going to pre-K, and they go to the same school... for the first time together."
"It was such a fun day. The first day of school can be scary. Haley just went sprinting off with her friends. It was like, 'Bye!' And we're like, 'OK. Have a great day,'" Kotb said of Haley's excitement over being reunited with her friends on the school yard.
Hope was equally thrilled, with the mother of two explaining that the 4-year-old was "phased in" to pre-K, and only stayed at school for an hour.
It was the first day of school for Hager's little ones too, with the proud mom telling Kotb that there's "nothing sweeter" than that first day feeling.
