Savannah Guthrie’s greatest hope for her daughter, Vale, and son, Charley, is that they always take time to understand and consider the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of others.
“My wish for them, and my wish for everyone, is perspective,” Savannah tells TODAY.com. “I think we can all get really focused on our world, and our lives, our distractions, our sorrows, our ambitions.”
The TODAY co-anchor notes that kids, especially, tend to be “totally focused” on themselves.
“It’s a gift sometimes to just have perspective and see the world around you,” Savannah says. “It’s my wish for myself and really for the whole world, because I think it would lead to (more) kindness and love and compassion.”
So that’s what Savannah wants for Vale, 9, and Charley, 7, — but are they wishing for?
“They have a good surprise coming,” Savannah teases. “It’s an electronic — but not a phone.”
Savannah jokes that they won’t be getting phones until they turn 18, “or ever!”
It should come as no surprise that Vale asked for for Taylor Swift merchandise. Both Vale and her mom are huge Swifties and attended the pop star’s “Eras Tour.” And on Oct. 31, when Savannah dressed up as Swift for the show’s Halloween extravaganza, she was joined onstage by Vale.
Vale's Christmas wish list also included a request for a surprise!
As for Charley, he “wants every soccer, football, and basketball jersey that exists in the world,” according to Savannah.
Savannah shares Vale and Charley with husband Mike Feldman. Earlier this year, Savannah told TODAY.com that they don’t play “good cop” and “bad cop” with their children.
“I’ve never subscribed to that old-fashioned notion of ‘Wait until your father gets home,’” Savannah explained in April.
“You’re not parenting if your kid hasn’t called you mean — that’s how you know you’re doing it right,” she said. “I don’t like hearing it, but you have to have boundaries, you have to have those limits, and your kids won’t like them. So sometimes you have to let them think you’re mean.”