Joanna Gaines is getting used to her new normal following the departure of her beloved daughter Ella, who flew the nest recently to attend college.
The Fixer Upper star has now opened up about letting her daughter shine in her new surroundings by stepping back and letting her take charge.
Appearing on the Today Show on Tuesday August 19 during a visit to NYC - far away from her family home in Waco, Texas - the HGTV star spoke about parenthood, and how Ella is already thriving in her new surroundings.
© NBCAlthough Joanna is an interior design expert, she made sure to let Ella take control when it came to decorating her new room at her college dorm.
She explained: "She's very into design and has her own unique style. So I stepped back and I let her do the whole thing. It was what she wanted."
She also admitted that Ella's departure was still so "raw" because it hit her a little differently than when her firstborn, son Drake, left home a few years prior.
She said: "I have my oldest son who is now a junior in college, I'm getting the hang of it. Every time he leaves it's not as hard.
"But then my second daughter Ella, she left this weekend so it's still raw. Like 'oh god help me'. It feels different because she went further and she's my girl. I thought 'Oh, I have this down with Drake.' But it's totally different."
© Getty ImagesShe also gave an update on how her husband Chip Gaines was coping at home back in Texas while she was in NYC for work.
"Chip is doing good. He dropped the kids off this morning and sent me a little picture," she said. Along with Drake and Ella, Joanna and Chip are also parents to Duke, 17, Emmie, 15, and Crew, seven.
Joanna has been vocal on social media about her feelings towards Ella leaving home. She wrote in the latest issue of the Magnolia Journal about her changing approaching to being a mom following her two oldest children's departures.
© Instagram"Being in close proximity to my kids is the only way I've known to parent. My confidence as a mom is deeply intertwined with physical presence. I know how to read their faces. I know what foods heal wounds. I know how to stay up late. To be here when they need me," she continued.
"I've had to refine how to show up for each of them, all being so different, but almost 20 years in, I started to feel like I finally had the hang of it…"
© Photo: InstagramNow that she has two children living away from home, however, Joanna is finding a new way of showing them that she cares from afar. "For Drake and Ella, it might look like experimenting: care packages with their favorite cookies and surprise visits for an afternoon coffee," she added.
"But it will also look the same way it always has: a listening ear, texts that let them know I'm here."
