Joanna Gaines is a doting mom to five children between the ages of 18 and four, and she has certainly faced a lot of parenting milestones over the years.
One particular moment that made her incredibly emotional involved her firstborn, Drake, when he learnt how to drive.
Joanna was more than a little upset when Drake got his driver's license, with Chip recalling how the bittersweet moment made his wife cry.
"I was so excited leading up to it, and Jo was too, kind of," he shared with People. "Then we get this kid his licence, and the first morning he goes to drive, Jo bawls her eyes out. She was just devastated and wanted no part. She wants to hire him a chauffeur!"
Drake lives away from home, having flown the nest in 2022 to attend college - another milestone that doting mom Joanna found difficult to deal with.
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As well as Drake, the couple are parents to Ella, 16, Duke, 14, Emmie, 12, and Crew, four. In August, Joanna opened up her thoughts on Drake leaving home to go to college.
Chatting to People, she said: "When [Drake] was Crew's age, people would look at me and say, 'Oh, you better hold on tight. It goes by fast. Now, being a mother of a four-year-old and an almost 18-year-old, it's a constant reminder to not take these moments for granted."
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On her family's close bond, she added that her children are always there cheering her on. "They're encouraging me as I walk out the door like, 'Mom, you've got this. Just be yourself, have fun,' " she says.
"Sometimes I feel like they're the parents," she said. In an essay in Magnolia Journal, the quarterly lifestyle magazine she publishes with her husband, Joanna further reflected on Drake's then upcoming departure.
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"Soon, our oldest son, Drake, will be leaving home for college," she wrote. "In the grand scheme of heartbreaking things, this one comes with a lot of gratitude and excitement." "But still, my first child is moving away, and our family dynamic will change because of it, and that can feel like a loss of its own."
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