The HGTV stars sat down with Jenna Bush Hager and her sister Barbara Bush
Over two months after seeing their son Drake off at college, Joanna and Chip Gaines are still adjusting to life without their firstborn.
The and Magnolia Network founders are the parents of five children, those being Drake, 18, Ella, 16, Duke, 14, Emmie Kay, 13, and little Crew, five.
In a new interview with Jenna Bush Hager and her sister Barbara Bush on the Fourth Hour of Today (aka Today with Hoda and Jenna), the couple spoke about how they dealt with their oldest leaving the nest.
Speaking from their home in Waco, Texas, Joanna, 45, said: "This year, the dynamic has been crazy as the 18-year-old goes off to college."
Jenna, herself a mom-of-three, asked: "Did y'all cry?" to which Joanna responded: "I did," but Chip, 48, retorted: "I would've cried if the boy had stayed any longer."
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Pointing to the former First Daughters, he added: "I showed him some clips of y'alls college experience, and I was like 'If you're not like these girls, boy don't even come home!'"
View post on InstagramJenna and Barbara notoriously made headlines when they were in college in 2001 at the University of Texas at Austin, just after their dad George W. Bush was elected President.
They were both arrested on alcohol-related charges twice within the span of five weeks and months later, Jenna was charged with misdemeanor for attempting to use a fake ID. However, both have since spoken openly about their youth and reflected on their changed lives.
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"I do think failure for kids is important," Jenna remarked as Barbara and Joanna were left in hysterics by Chip's logic.
In the Winter 2023 issue of the Magnolia Journal, released last week, Joanna reflected on Drake's departure and the way it had altered the dynamic of their family home.
"When we dropped off our oldest son at college this fall, I did what I imagine most mothers do when their firstborn leaves the nest: counted the days until Christmas break," she penned.
"Four months. Nineteen Saturday mornings. I knew we'd get to see him on weekends here and there, but as we pulled away from his new home – all of us quietly uncertain about how much might've just changed forever – I already knew I'd long for more than quick stop-ins and a load of laundry to do."
She continued: "It's not that life inside the Gaines house has changed all that drastically since our oldest moved out. Still, I want this upcoming break to give him a chance to fall back into that flow.
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"Into conversations we'd left open, into inside jokes he'd shared with his brothers, even falling back into his favorite chair. I want to hear that life pouring in and out of every room and conversation. And I want Drake to feel as if the impression he's made in our home remained even when he didn't."
Joanna spoke of the "connections" that had been created between the siblings that she hoped would remain throughout their time spent together and apart. She ended her essay with: "Where hearts are light, life pours out. And like a current, once it starts to flow, the next right thing to do is let it carry you."
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