Jenna Bush Hager Says She and Dad George W. Bush Would ‘Get in Big Fights’ After She Got Bad Grades: ‘I’d Cry Myself to Sleep’

Jenna Bush Hager shared a glimpse into her childhood struggles with school and her dad, former President George W. Bush, during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on Friday, Sept. 26.

Reflecting on a viral TikTok about back-to-school expectations, Bush Hager admitted there were moments when she didn’t excel academically.

“There was a period of time when I made bad grades,” the mother of Mila, 12, Poppy, 10, and Hal, 6, revealed.

When asked by guest co-host Sheinelle Jones how her parents reacted, she laughed as she recounted, “My dad would sit with me at that kitchen table and try to teach me math, and we’d get in big fights and I’d cry myself to sleep.”

Despite those early struggles, the 43-year-old went on to graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, became a teacher at a charter school, and eventually transitioned into television.

Bush Hager has always been candid about her teenage years. “I hope my daughters are NOT like me,” she joked on the show.

Jones added, “If I have a little Jenna, I wouldn’t even know how to parent that.”

“My parents didn’t either,” Bush Hager quipped about George and former First Lady Laura Bush.

The discussion also turned to college pranks. Jones shared a story about playing an April Fools joke on her mom, claiming she was pregnant.

“Oh my god! I did the same thing!” Bush Hager admitted, noting that her father was serving his first term as president at the time.

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