Sunny Hostin has an unshakable bond with her two children, but even she looks back with a little regret about motherhood.
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, The View co-host, 55, said she would have done one thing differently in her parenting journey.
“I would take more pictures,” Hostin explained. “I would tell myself, ‘Cherish every single second.’ Because it goes by this quickly. They always tell you that, right? ‘Oh it goes by so quickly.’ I’m like, ‘Uh, no. I’m nursing and I’m up every two hours. It’s not going by quickly at all.’”
Hostin and husband of 25 years Emmanuel “Manny” Hostin share son Gabriel, 21, a junior at Harvard University, and daughter Paloma, 17, who will begin her college career at another Ivy League school, Cornell University, in the fall.
“I would definitely have almost been more present,” Hostin acknowledged. “My husband’s like, ‘You’re crazy.’ I was making baby food and doing all the things. But I would have taken more video and more pictures and spent even more time, if that’s even possible.”
As Hostin and her husband prepare to be empty nesters, she admitted adjusting to her soon-to-be reality has not been easy.
“I think the hardest part of parenting adult children is you still see them as your baby,” Hostin said. “I’m going to really miss having them at home. I’m struggling with that. I’m speaking to other empty nesters.”
One of those empty nester comrades just so happens to be another major force in daytime television.
“I’ve spoken to Kelly Ripa about it,” Hostin revealed. “They’re telling me I’m going to have a ball. I don’t know! I think I’m going to miss them!”
Hostin added, “The hardest part is watching them fly. But if I’ve done my job, then they’re going to fly and soar.”
Recently, Hostin’s children were able to act as a support system for their mother while she wrote her novel Summer on Highland Beach, the third in Hostin’s New York Times bestselling Summer Beach series.
“They’re so understanding,” Hostin gushed. “When mom has to lock her home office because I’m writing — I write at night, it’s part of my process — I generally try to write when I’m done helping them. We always eat as a family together, so after dinner I go into my little room and close the door and I’m working and I’m writing.”
Hostin continued, “They sometimes come in and say ‘Goodnight, don’t forget to get some sleep.’ They check on me, which is pretty spectacular.”
Summer on Highland Beach is available Tuesday, May 28.
