Tamron Hall Takes Us Through a Day in Her Working-Mom Life: 'We're All Just Doing the Best We Can'

On Instagram, Tamron Hall’s life glows. Her more than 800K Instagram followers see her on the set of the syndicated show Tamron Hall, which debuted in September, two years after the Today show nudged her off to make room for Megyn Kelly. (We all remember how that turned out.) There are snaps from beach vacations and from a boxing ring where Hall works out by throwing punches once or twice a week. There are videos of her now 10-month-old son, Moses, giggling.

Presumably, behind many of these shots is her husband, music executive Steven Greener, whom she married in a private ceremony last year. (She kept the initial details of their relationship out of the public. “As an interracial, interfaith couple, we knew the world would throw darts,” she says.) Tamron also kept her pregnancy, at age 48, under wraps, fearful of the risks inherent at that age. She revealed it to delighted fans at 32 weeks and welcomed baby Moses last April.

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Of course, between the rosy moments in her feed, there’s been some struggle. Hall goes to bed too late and wakes up too early. She drinks more coffee than she’d care to admit and eats dinner alone with her husband less often than she’d like. At work, she spends rare free moments on her phone, checking Moses via baby cam and ordering diapers online. “I don’t mind Instagram, with all its filters, as long as we also get real and say, ‘Do you know how many pictures I took before I posted this one?’ ” says Hall. “If we all just rip off our masks and say, ‘Damn it, this is hard,’ we can release the pressure we unnecessarily endure. We’re all just doing the best we can.”

In an act of solidarity with her fellow working moms, Hall invited Parents to shadow her during a typical workday for a look at what her life is really like. This is Tamron Hall, no filters, no retakes, and in her own words.

5:35 a.m.

I’m sleeping lightly, thinking about work, when Moses’s camera goes on. He’s not crying, just rolling around, so I close my eyes again for a minute. Then I kiss my husband, freshen up, and let out my dog, May Luv. She’s 12.

6:05 a.m.

When I walk into his room, Moses is up and laughing with his nanny, who lives with us. Six out of seven days he’s smiley, which I love. I just want to lie down on the floor with him. One morning he started crying, and I was like, “Oh, no! You have a whole tear!” My mom was with us and laughed. “Tamron, get over it!” she said. “Babies cry!”

6:10 a.m.

I carry Moses downstairs and we say good morning to our parrot, Jojo. And also everything else: “Good morning, windows. Good morning, kitchen.” Then I sit him in his chair and pull out his food for the whole day—an avocado and cereal, cauliflower and peaches, beets and yellow squash. I use a Beaba Babycook to puree. Preparing his food makes me feel like I’m nourishing him even when I’m not home.

6:28 a.m.

Coffee! I’m forced to take my Nespresso to go in a ceramic mug because I recently got annoyed and purged all 75 Thermoses I’d accumulated. I still have yesterday’s mug in my purse. That’s life.

6:30 a.m.

I don’t feel bad about saying goodbye to Moses. It’s the reality of being a working mom. I also love my job. I mean, if I hit the Powerball, would they hear from me again? Probably not. But I try not to focus on the leaving part too much. I just give Moses a kiss and go.

7:00 a.m.

When I arrive at the studio, I go straight into hair and makeup. With my work, I feel a huge responsibility to the people around me because if I win, everyone wins. Everyone’s future, including my baby’s, is linked to mine. It’s a lot of pressure! I used to be anxious about the enormity of it all. Before my first day, I fantasized about packing up my baby and husband and jetting off to Mexico to sell T-shirts. But I don’t think about it anymore on a day-to-day basis.

7:57 a.m.

My assistant brings me a Starbucks soy white mocha. I used to drink only one coffee a day, but now I have bad influences around me. You know the question, “If somebody jumped off a bridge, would you follow?” Clearly, I would!

8:00 a.m.

My team prepares for the show. We go over every segment, and I want everyone to feel they’re empowered to contribute. I hired a diverse staff. I know how it feels being the only woman to walk into a room full of men. I also know how it feels to be the only woman of color to walk into a room of white women. So for my show, I addressed not only the gender disparity in the television industry but also the racial disparity. When I say, “Sisterhood is real,” I include all women.

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8:28 a.m.

Off to my dressing room to write thank-you cards to my guests from the day before. When I was in local news, Stedman Graham, Oprah Winfrey’s partner, was on our show, and he wrote me a heartfelt note. I want to do that for people too.

8:32 a.m.

My nanny texts. Moses is going down for his nap. My husband set up a camera-intercom system so I can see and talk to Moses. I always check in before his naps and say hi via intercom. “See you soon, Mosey!” Now’s also the time when I do my Amazon orders. I recently said to my husband, “Do you think those paper towels just magically appear?” I have this “I can handle it all” attitude, but I’m trying to stop. Not as a punishment to Steven, but as a lesson to myself. I have a partner and should pass off some of the household management.

8:44 a.m.

I haven’t had a single thing to eat yet, so I’ll eat a fruit plate but only because a staff member put it in front of me. I prefer hard-boiled eggs but my team says they smell. My favorite breakfast is actually a peanut butter, banana, honey, and almond-milk shake. But I went to bed last night at 11:30, and I would’ve had to get up earlier than 5:30 to make one. Not today!

8:58 a.m.

Oh, this is Tyler Perry texting me. He saw my interview with Whoopi Goldberg and says it was awesome. Wow, that’s high praise. And a little surreal.

9:11 a.m.

Off to wardrobe, then promos and another touch-up. Tuesdays and Thursdays are busy because we tape two shows each day. I call Mondays “Moses Mondays” because we do only one show and he meets me here. On Wednesdays, I take him to baby music class. He’s specializing in guitar. It’s hilarious. On Fridays, I work from home, studying for the upcoming week. I try to arrange my calls during his naps, but it’s a juggle. I used to feel guilty for using my phone around him, but I can’t put my team on hold because I’m playing with my son, right? That’s not fair to them either. So I just keep calls quick.

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10:00 a.m.

Here we go. Live television! Moses watches from home. It’s sweet, but I’m sure I’ll get booted for Sesame Street soon. I’m no match for Elmo.

11:00 a.m.

Show’s over. I’m happy with it. When I’m out there, I feel like I’m with friends. I take selfies and shake hands with the audience and get hugs, so before I go back to my dressing room, I use Purell right away. That’s for Moses’s sake. We’re six months in and, knock wood, no colds!

11:30 a.m.

I shoot a mini digital show about my clothes because people are always asking. I’m not playing dress-up on the show. It’s me. I mean, I don’t wear a jewel-encrusted Miu Miu dress around my son, but I always dress cute. This idea that momhood means uncute is so not true. Yes, I’ve had days when I’ve walked around disoriented in milk-stained leggings. But I’ve also had disorienting days as a working woman supporting myself in a competitive field driven by patriarchal rules. I just didn’t have milk stains then.

12:15 p.m.

More card writing while I eat lunch. I’m having salmon with brown rice and broccoli. I’m not a healthy eater, but my assistant got it for me, and she is. My only rule is that I need something warm.

12:39 p.m.

I haven’t talked to Steven all day! This is unprecedented. He usually calls between shows. I’ll try to call him. Nope, he’s not answering. I have an event tonight where I’m accepting an award, then we have a dinner date at 8:30. I hate calling it a date. To be honest, I’m worried I’m going to be too tired. I kind of want to cancel, but I’m not going to, because we haven’t had dinner just the two of us in weeks. Most nights Steven and I sit with Moses during his dinner, then team up for bath and bedtime.

12:45 p.m.

I got so distracted that I haven’t called my son yet either. Oh, that’s sad. But at least my mom is with him today. She comes up from Texas for two weeks at a time to stay with us. I talk to her every day, but to watch her nurture my child is next-level. I see on the camera that he’s eating. “I’ll talk to you again later. Bye-bye! Mommy loves you!”

12:47 p.m.

Here’s my assistant with my cappuccino. I’ll devour some gummy bears too. It’s not the calories I try to avoid. It’s the crash. Two-show days are tough. Sometimes, I’ll lie down around now with a decompression mask. It’s like a weighted blanket for your face. But there’s no time today.

1:00 p.m.

Back to hair and makeup, then time to meet with my team about the second show, which we tape live to air the next day.

1:30 p.m.

We try to start the second show promptly because afterward I need to prep for the rest of the week. After that, I’ll race home, hoping to give Moses his three o’clock bottle. Then I’ll take a short nap, play with him, feed him his 5:30 meal, lay out his PJs, get ready for the night, go to the event, and have dinner. Then I’ll live to fight another day.