Jenna Bush Hager Recalls ‘Rage’ She Had Over Mother-in-Law’s Insistence She Hang Husband’s Favorite Poster
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"She handed me a poster of a baseball player that Henry loved from Wake Forest, and she said, ‘Now you need to put this on your wall,' " Bush Hager explained
Jenna Bush Hager is reminiscing about her first argument with her mother-in-law.
On Wednesday’s episode of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, the women discussed compromises in relationships. Bush Hager, 42, recalled a time at the beginning of her marriage to Henry Hager when she refused to settle — over a poster.
“I just have to say, when Henry and I got married — and I love my mother-in-law so much, she’s the best, she watches our show, I love her. But she handed me a poster of a baseball player that Henry loved from Wake Forest, and she said, ‘Now you need to put this on your wall. Your husband loves this player,’ ” Hager said.
She went on to admit, “I had some sort of rage come out.”
Related: What to Know About Jenna Bush Hager's Journey from First Daughter to 'Today' Host
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The former first daughter explained to co-host Hoda Kotb that she told her mother-in-law, Margaret Hager, “I don’t like that poster,” and refused to hang it in her home. Margaret stayed insistent that Bush Hager needed to “compromise” for the sake of Hager’s interests.
“I said, ‘No I will not! This should stay in your home in his childhood bedroom where basketball posters go to die,’ ” Bush Hager said.
When Kotb, 59, inquired about whether Bush Hager’s mother-in-law was upset with her, she said she understood Hager was just trying to teach her the “ways of marriage." However, she can happily say she hasn’t seen the poster since.
“I probably should have just graciously said, ‘Thank you so much for this poster,’ and then trashed it later — which I might have done, I don’t remember, it was almost 20 years ago,” Bush Hager added.
“By the way, you were a different person then,” Kotb chimed in.
Bush Hager joked, “I had just gotten married and I had some Barbie heels on so I was like, ‘Let’s stand tall.’”
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Bush Hager — whose father is former President George W. Bush — and husband Henry met in 2004 and tied the knot in 2008. The pair welcomed their first child, daughter Mila, in 2013 and daughter Poppy in 2015. Their son Hal was born in 2019.
Over the years, Bush Hager has spoken candidly about her journey to motherhood, admitting that having three young kids makes “logistics” tricky. She devotes time to "making sure that each child has the love that I know I feel for them."
However, she has said that expanding her family has brought her more joy than ever. "It's fun," she told PEOPLE after Hal was born. "I'm really happy.”
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