‘Today Show’s’ Sheinelle Jones Shares Her Biggest Challenge of Being On Air and At Home
Co-host Sheinelle Jones of the Today Show is reporting from home due to the coronavirus crisis like many of her morning news colleagues. Back at work after a six-week hiatus due to vocal cord surgery, Jones is trying to juggle covering the news at home while helping her three kids – son Kayin, 10, and twins Uche and Clara Josephine, 7 – keep up to speed with their studies.
The Today star recently shared some of the ups and downs she’s experiencing with trying to be both television host and teacher.
Jones as teacher
Last week, Jones shared a video on social media to update her followers on how she’s doing with homeschooling her trio.
“Hi everybody. I’ve slipped away to the bathroom because I need a moment,” she shared in an Instagram video last week. “If you have little ones at home, and you’re teaching them — I have two second graders and a fourth grader — you know what? May the force be with you because this is a challenge.”
Like many parents now working from home while their kids are attending school online, Jones sees both positive and negative aspects to being a homeschooler while trying to fulfill her job requirements.
“There are moments when I’m like, ‘Oh, my goodness, this feels so great and I feel like I’m teaching them and it’s so wonderful,” the Today star shared. “And there are other moments when I feel like it’s all-consuming and I don’t have time to do anything else.”
New kind of mornings
Managing her children’s coursework from three virtual classrooms, Jones will often let her little ones know when she’s about to be on camera so they can adjust their own volume.
“I told them that when Mommy is going live, they’ll have to read quietly or do something that doesn’t require my immediate attention,” she told Know Your Value. “The silver lining to all of this, is that I’m getting a closer look at where my kids are academically.”
Usually at Studio 1A in the early morning hours, Jones is grateful for the togetherness she’s sharing with her kids despite some of the chaos. “While it is stressful juggling it all at once, I’m thankful for this time I have with them, because I’m not usually home in the mornings,” the NBC co-host said.
Most can relate to Jones’ ‘biggest challenge’
With balancing her job and trying to maintain some type of home studio from which to broadcast while educating her kids and keeping them calm through this unprecedented national crisis, Jones struggles with being consumed by stress and fear of the unknown.
“My biggest challenge is trying not to feel overwhelmed by it all,” the Today co-host revealed. “It sometimes feels like I bounce between cooking and teaching, while also silently worrying about how long we’ll have to stay quarantined.”
Reporting on the pandemic on a daily basis, Jones is well aware that most families are having the same challenge. “From worries about this virus, to mental health, to squeezed finances, it’s a lot to carry emotionally for so many families,” she said.
Despite the tumultuous times, Jones has ways of keeping it together. “Try to find examples of grace,” she shared. “For me, it’s being able to spend time with my family, and occasionally closing the door to a room — alone — just to get a break!”
The journalist recommends some spiritual connection as well. “Thinking about others and reaching out to friends and family also helps,” Jones advised. “My faith in God brings me the most peace.”
