Dylan Dreyer is trying to be like any good parent and introduce her children to new experiences; however, the Today host proved that opening up their world isn't always easy.
The mother of three posted a clip on Instagram of her middle child, Oliver, trying gum for the first time, with hilarious and surprising results.
"Ollie's time trying gum," she wrote in the caption. "Maybe I shouldn't have started with a minty icy blast. Or maybe that was a good idea…"
The video followed the five-year-old chewing on a piece of gum and making increasingly disgusted faces as the minty flavor set in.
Dylan could be heard laughing in the background as she watched the mishap unfold before asking, "What do you think?"
"Can I spit it out?" he replied as he walked to the bin and removed the evidence.
© InstagramThe author's youngest son, Rusty, watched his brother in fascination, asking, "Why don't you like it?"
Oliver then described the gum as "bad"; clearly, Dylan won't have to worry about her son developing cavities!
She also shares her eldest child, Calvin, with her cameraman husband, Brian Fichera. The pair met while working at an NBC affiliate station in Boston; they got engaged in 2011 and married a year later.
Dylan struggled to conceive her second child after experiencing fertility issues and a miscarriage. When she welcomed Oliver in 2020 and called the show with the happy news, the 43-year-old shared that she was "in heaven" and couldn't be happier.
When Oliver's little brother Rusty was born in September 2021, he didn't warm to the newborn immediately.
"He's adjusting," Dylan said on the show. "He doesn't really understand the word gentle. We're trying to teach him that word. There's a lot of jumping on the couch."
© InstagramShe continued: "We have to keep the baby away from the couch, or else he's just going to get stepped on."
The meteorologist shared with Today that her parenting style is influenced by her own mother, who worked hard for her kids and allowed them a sense of freedom. "She never said 'absolutely not, you don't do that,'" Dylan explained. "It was she always let us make our own decisions."
Dylan has brought this philosophy into her own parenting, emphasizing the importance of "letting them take risks and letting them explore."
© InstagramAs for if she would try for a girl with her husband, Dylan quipped that with her track record, it was likely she would welcome another boy instead. "Don't think Brian and I haven't had that conversation," Dylan told TODAY.com. "But it's like, no, we are so done. I know my luck, and it would be a fourth boy!"
Instead, the Today star is focusing on her career and recently released a children's book, A Peek Out Your Window, which she said got the tick of approval from her three sons.
"When my new book arrives yesterday and it's already Rusty's favorite," she captioned an Instagram photo of her youngest reading the picture book. "I couldn't be prouder!! Thank you as always for supporting me in this little passion project!!"
