Sheinelle Jones used one of her sons' recent injuries to teach him a lesson in sportsmanship. Both of the TODAY anchor's sons, Kayin, 16, and Uche, 13, are in the thick of their teenage years, during which growing pains can be persistent — so much so that most recently, they got in the way of a soccer game. In addition to her two sons, the doting mom shares daughter Clara, Uche's twin sister, with her late husband Uche Ojeh, who passed away in May aged 45 after a battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Catching up with her 3rd Hour co-anchors Dylan Dreyer and Craig Melvin on the Monday, September 22 installment of the program — Al Roker was off — Sheinelle said she "was all over the universe this weekend," and noted that one of her sons "had a soccer game like an hour and a half outside of the city," but he's "injured."
She then explained: "You know you hear about growth pains? He actually is having them, like under his knees. She noted that apparently it's "common for boys when you're growing," but that she used the opportunity to teach him a lesson in being a good sport, and support his team even when he's benched.
"My point is, I talked to him about being a good sport, so we still drove an hour and a half to be on the bench," she shared, though did confess: "That was tough, but I was still trying to root for everybody else's kids."
Sheinelle made her return to TODAY earlier this month, nine months after first taking a leave of absence to take care of her husband, though she did not disclose details of the personal matter until his passing in May. She came back on a Friday, and later caught up with her 3rd Hour co-anchors the following Monday on what her first day back was like.
"So I got home and I had a hard time going to sleep Friday night, just because it felt like a lot," she confessed then, though emphasized: "But it was just the best way to come back for me because today [Monday] I feel like [it's] the second day of school, as opposed to the first day jitters."
"Use this week to settle in," Dylan added, as Sheinelle shared that the past few days had in a way been representative of her "year of firsts" ahead. "We went out this weekend — it's kind of like the year of firsts [without Uche]. First Father's Day, first Thanksgiving, yesterday was our first outing, we hadn't been out in public. I had this irrational crowd anxiety, but it was the best thing."
She went on to share how "amazing" it was to go out to Times Square with her kids, even in the rain wearing ponchos, to go see a free outdoor show titled Founded By Broadway, a medley of different famous Broadway musicals and plays performed in honor of New York City's 400th anniversary. Sheinelle added that while some people did recognize her, they didn't react with "puppy eyes" signaling pity, but rather they got "go get 'em" looks, which she noted has "been the hope" throughout her re-entry back into the public eye.