It was a morning Janet El Khatib won’t soon forget.
On Dec. 20, TODAY anchors Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones welcomed the El Khatib family to join them from Dubuque, Iowa during Hoda’s Morning Boost, where she starts the day with good news and heartwarming stories.
Janet El Khatib and her son Khalid recently went viral when Khalid shared a tweet about how his mom takes holiday planning to the next level.
Khalid posted Janet’s extremely detailed holiday to-do email, which outlined several dinner options, a vote on cheesecake flavors, activities like a bourbon tasting, manicures and downtown day trips, to the type of snacks being placed on the tables around them as they relax during the holiday and so much more.
Speaking with TODAY.com on Dec. 15, Khalid spoke about how his mom dotes on him and his sisters in the morning while they spend Christmas week in Iowa, serving coffee as they all watch TODAY in their pajamas. Janet also spoke about how much she loves one of our anchors in particular.
“I tape the TODAY show every morning so that I can watch the first two hours and then I like watching Hoda and Jenna, too,” Janet said. “Hoda just seems so genuine. And with her two adopted daughters, she’s such a wonderful mom. She cares about them and their well being. I really do admire it.”
On Tuesday morning, the Iowa mom received a special surprise from TODAY and talked about her masterclass in holiday organization with all of her children in tow.
“Janet is standing by with her son and two daughters but here’s the thing, she thinks she’s about to chat with her local NBC affiliate. In fact, she can’t hear us right now,” said Hoda as an unsuspecting Janet sits in front of the family fireplace with Khalid and her two daughters Iman and Sarah in view. “She has no idea the whole country is watching.”
Then, the audio for the El Khatib family is switched on and Janet’s reaction is priceless when Hoda says, "Janet, can you hear me? We have a surprise for you, this is not KWWL—"
“This is Hoda!” shouted Janet with a gasp, realizing she’s talking to the very people she records every morning. “Oh, my God, I’m going to have a heart attack. Oh, my God, you guys!”
After Craig encourages Janet to not have a heart attack, the excitement is still palpable as Hoda tells Janet that she read — and was impressed by — her list, asking the ultimate holiday host to talk a little bit more about the email and why she sends it to her kids every year.
“Oh, OK,” Janet says while wiping a happy tear from her eye, still clearly shocked that she is appearing on her favorite morning show. “I do it every time my kids come home because I want when they come home for it to be special."
Janet explains that her kids all have different likes and dislikes, so she sends out the itinerary to her kids who come in from Chicago, Denver and New York City every year. She says that they can always tweak the options before everyone arrives at her house to enjoy the smorgasbord at hand.
“The big thing is the food, I’m not sure exactly what they want,” Janet says before pointing out some of the options that have stuck around for years like her twice-baked potatoes. Food options that are more up in the air from year to year are the type of cheesecake, appetizers and finger foods.
What isn’t up for debate, though, is that Janet is pumped about this interview.
“I can’t believe I’m talking to Hoda!” Janet said. “I watch you every day, I TiVo you every day, ‘cause I walk, too. I’m just excited.”
Hoda then asks Khalid if he expected this wave of love for his mom's creative Christmas coordination.
“No. The short answer is no, although she is very lovable as you can see so I shouldn’t of been surprised,” said Khalid, adding that he posted the tweet before he boarded a flight without Wi-Fi. "I landed to 30,000 notifications, which definitely exceeded my expectations and it just snowballed from there, and continues.”
In response to Sheinelle's question about why he thinks the story has resonated the way it has, Khalid said, “I think there are two reasons: Either you have a mom like my mom or you want a mom like my mom."
Later, Hoda remarked that that bar is set high for Khalid’s “wife-to-be,” although during the commercial break, he clarified to Hoda that his future actually holds a husband-to-be.
“I told Hoda I’m gay at the commercial break," tweeted Khalid after the segment.
At the end of the segment, Hoda tried to get a selfie with the El Khatib family on a monitor, which didn't quite work out, but she later tweeted a still of them all together on the show.
After the segment, Khalid shared on Twitter that his mom is calling all of her friends, thrilled at the surprise he and TODAY managed to pull off for his mom, the ultimate planner.
“Thank you, @hodakotb!!!” he tweeted. “The best Christmas gift for the best Christmas mom.”
