Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager regularly turn to Maria Shriver for advice.
“She’s our guru,” Jenna explained on Hoda & Jenna on July 12.
“She’s like a problem solver,” Hoda added.
So it’s only fitting that the co-hosts invited Shriver to answer viewer questions on the latest installment of their “Social Dilemmas” segment.
Up first: A letter from a woman wanting advice on how to handle an opinionated mother-in-law.
“She’s constantly zinging me over my parenting style,” Hoda read. “How do I let her know I appreciate her help, but I would appreciate her laying off the comments, too.”
Shriver, a mother-in-law herself, offered a tip for other MILs to avoid these types of conflicts.
“I zip my mouth,” the TODAY special anchor said.
"But what if the kid is not behaving — or saying rude things and nobody is correcting? Would you say anything?" Hoda asked.
"I really try to zip my mouth," Shriver replied.
Shriver then advised the frustrated mom to sit down with her mother-in-law and say, “We wouldn’t be able to do it without you… but it sometimes hurts my feelings when you criticize. I’m still trying to figure it out. I really love your support.”
Jenna suggested that the son play middle man and speak to his mom on his wife’s behalf, but Shriver said that could cause even more complications.
“You hear these stories of when the husband does say something… then there’s estrangement,” Shriver noted.
Shriver adores her daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt’s husband, Chris Pratt. Last month, she commented on Pratt's sweet anniversary tribute to his wife.
“I’m so happy you have one another — love looks good on you both shine on," Shriver wrote, in part.
The actor and Schwarzenegger Pratt, who have been married for four years, are parents of daughters, Lyla, 2, and Eloise, 13 months.
In May 2022, Pratt appeared on TODAY and said that Lyla likes to call Shriver “Mama G.”
He described Shriver as “a living saint” for his family, and said that she's "super doting."
“She’s fantastic. She’s so engaged and thoughtful and caring and her house is like .... a welcoming kind of retreat," Pratt said. "You just kind of relax when you go there. It’s really nice."