Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans - Hardcover

Jones, Sheinelle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593719336 ISBN 13: 9780593719336

Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the beloved Today show host Sheinelle Jones comes an inspiring collection of heartfelt life-lessons from hard working moms who raised some of our favorite celebrities.

When Sheinelle Jones launched “Through Mom’s Eyes,” a recurring Today show segment interviewing celebrities’ mothers about raising successful kids, she had an ulterior motive—she wanted to bring all their wisdom to bear on raising her own three children. So she asked Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mom about staying present with kids while balancing a demanding career, talked with Lady Gaga’s mom about how to recognize bullying, and got tips from Steph Curry’s mom on making sure even future NBA royalty does his chores. She has since interviewed dozens of remarkable women and gathered a candid, warm, and insightful collection of valuable lessons about life, love, and parenthood.

Now in her first book, Through Mom’s Eyes, Sheinelle is ready to share even more of those life-changing secrets with the world. Combining insights from celebrity mothers with her own journey through modern parenting, Sheinelle reveals how to make it through the hard parts of motherhood and still tap into the joys of it with empathy, generosity, and solidarity. Through Mom’s Eyes is a beautiful celebration of those who are the guiding light for their loved ones—mothers.

Featuring advice from the moms of:
Lady Gaga * Kevin Durant * Matthew McConaughey * Venus and Serena Williams * Lin-Manuel Miranda * Steph Curry * Padma Lakshmi * Tyra Banks * Donnie and Mark Wahlberg * Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski * Jessica and Ashlee Simpson * Shaquille O’Neal * Brandon Maxwell * The Jonas Brothers * Thomas Rhett

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Sheinelle Jones is the co-host of Today with Jenna and Sheinelle on NBC. She’s also the host of Through Mom’s Eyes, a digital and broadcast series for Today where she interviews the mothers of celebrities to discuss their journeys raising successful children. She co-hosts a weekly radio show “Off the Rails” on Sirius XM with co-hosts Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer, and hosts “Wild Child”, an award-winning weekly educational series, part of NBC’s “The More You Know” family programming. Sheinelle is also the executive producer of the Gracie Award winning MSNBC documentary, “Stories We Tell: The Fertility Secret.” She lives in New York City with her three kids.

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Chapter 1

Close Your Laptop
and Put Your Phone Down

Cynthia Germanotta,
Lady Gaga's mom

Sometimes, when I interview someone, I can tell that their mind is somewhere else. Or that they're so preoccupied with what's about to happen that they're not fully present. And who can blame them? Even on my side of the interview table, it's easy to get distracted by thoughts about how you'll look on camera, or what you plan to say, or even what the kids are going to have for dinner.

That wasn't at all the case with Cynthia Germanotta, mom to daughters Natali and Stefani-aka Lady Gaga. As we settled ourselves at a small, round table, amidst the camera crew's bright lights and a few staff from her foundation, Cynthia talked with me as if nothing else was happening on earth and I was the only person not just in the room, but in the world.

If you've ever been on the receiving end of this kind of attention, you know that it's not just inspiring, it's sort of intoxicating. Watching Cynthia display this rare trait with such ease, I couldn't help but imagine how special a child would feel under that gaze.

We were nestled in a corner of a restaurant owned by the Germanotta family, located on New York City's Upper West Side-quite a contrast to the small West Virginia coal mining town Cynthia is from. The eatery, Joanne Trattoria, is named in tribute to Cynthia's husband Joseph's sister, who lost her battle with lupus decades ago. Gaga fans from all over the world know the backstory, and they make pilgrimages to visit the restaurant no doubt in hopes of bumping into their idol-or maybe just her mom. On any given night, you'll find them excitedly pointing out Stefani's photos on the walls full of memorabilia and family pictures, or seated at tables heaped with plates of eggplant Parmesan, meatballs, and lemon-artichoke chicken, beside local residents who are used to the fuss but still see Joanne's as their own relaxed neighborhood spot.

Scanning the photo wall myself, I'm struck by the Germanotta women's strong genes. Strikingly similar features and expressions are echoed across multiple generations of their faces. There are also pictures of young people from all over who've become members of the family-not through blood, but through their connection to the Born This Way Foundation, which was created by Lady Gaga to support young people and their mental health. Cynthia, who runs the foundation, has learned a lot about this work from her oldest daughter, and it's become a passion that they share.

"Family is everything," Cynthia says, her eyes glistening. "It grounds you. You know that it's people you can trust. It's people that you can talk to. It should be a safe space." I silently agree. Everyone deserves to have people with whom they can be fully themselves and truly exhale.

Surrounded by a sea of tables that will be full of hungry customers once the doors open, Cynthia reminisces about the early days with her daughters and how much she misses the simple, dependable pleasure of family dinners with her husband and kids after a busy workday. On Sundays, they would spend much of the day at home, preparing then sharing a big Italian meal. As a working mom with two daughters born six years apart and a demanding corporate career that required long hours and travel, this time was especially meaningful.

"We all love to cook," Cynthia says. "We all love to be in the kitchen. It was kind of the center of the universe."

Stefani-or "Steffi," as Cynthia affectionately calls the woman legions of fans know as Lady Gaga-and her sister, Natali, were active kids whose passions and talents surfaced early. "We saw that and started nurturing it when they were young," Cynthia says. By the time she was two, it was clear that Gaga's tinkering on the piano was already more than a fun habit. By four, she had graduated to playing entire songs by ear. Like a lot of the moms I've interviewed, Cynthia and her husband affirmed their children when they first saw signs of a serious interest. Although Gaga displayed a genuine gift from an early age, not every child shows real talent. Yet parents who took notice when their kids enjoyed an activity, or were curious about something, and encouraged them, often made all the difference. In Lady Gaga's case, Cynthia and Joseph encouraged her obvious love of singing and playing piano (and, ultimately, guitar), investing in music lessons and creative arts summer camp. They fully supported Natali's interests too.

"We tried to strike that balance between the pragmatic side of parenting and facilitating what they wanted to do," Cynthia explains. "I think the more you do that, and the earlier you do it, you're empowering them to build a sense of confidence and a sense that they can accomplish anything, because you're letting them explore." Yes! I thought, promising myself I would do the same with my own children.

My promise was put to the test one day about a year later when I was walking by my daughter's room and heard Clara singing. I literally stopped in my tracks. She was just six at the time, but she sounded amazing. I come from a family of musicians on both sides; my mom is a singer and has taught music for as long as I can remember. While I can't sing for anything, I grew up around enough music to recognize talent when I hear it. Struck by Clara's sweet little voice, but not sure what to do about it, I stood by the door, pulled out my phone and recorded her.

"You've got to do something with that," my cohost Hoda Kotb said when I played it for her the next day during a commercial break.

"Really? Like what?"

"Singing lessons or musical theater, anything," she said. "She's good."

I'll admit that my first thought was: I've got three kids and wake up at four a.m. to get to work. I'm already rushing around from piano to soccer. I don't have time for ONE MORE thing. But then I thought of Gaga's mom and many of the others I'd met. What would they do?

That night I asked Clara if she wanted to take a music theater class. She's pretty shy, so I wasn't sure how she'd respond.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's learning how to make Broadway shows and the musicals we watch," I explained. Clara's face lit up. So I took her to a class, and she knocked the teacher's socks off. A few months later, my shy little girl took center stage as Dorothy in a community production of The Wiz. It turns out that music theater is her thing. Sitting there in the dark, I kept thinking how surreal it was to see her up there. That's my baby girl!

I had wondered whether putting Clara in any kind of formal class at such a young age might be too pushy. But then I remembered Cynthia telling me how she and her husband took notice when their oldest daughter started playing around on the piano at age two. Lady Gaga has often said in interviews that music was always in her head.

"We thought there might be something really special there," Cynthia says, "and just decided to nurture it and see where it would take her." When they first offered her formal lessons, the Germanotta's precocious daughter said, "But I'm already playing." (You gotta love a child's innate confidence.) They explained how piano lessons could help her improve and find even more ways to play, and she was sold. Decades later, that "nurturing" has certainly paid off.

* * *


Countless toddlers like to pluck piano keys or bang an imaginary drum. Others dance with a certain intensity and flair or draw incessantly, scribbling on anything they can find. When our children express an innate talent or initiate an interest that seems to grow, how do we respond as the adults in the room? How should we? Do we give their tuneless plunks a little grace or do we redirect them to something less noisy, or even tell them to knock it off? What about when they explore something...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593719336
• ISBN 13: 9780593719336
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: G.P. Putnam's Sons; https://www.penguin.com/putnam/; ; 1745 BROADWAY Attn: Madison Forsander; NEW YORK; NY; 10019; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar