Al Roker Wants To Work On His Patience In The New Year

As the new year begins, many people are making resolutions regarding what they’d like to improve upon or do differently in 2020. For some, this means reaching health and fitness goals or perhaps getting more organized. Al Roker of the Today Show has his own new year’s resolution that is quite simple – he wants to become more patient, according to People.

While sitting down with Hoda Kotb during the fourth hour of Today, Roker revealed has found that patience is a virtue that he can struggle with, particularly when it comes to his 17-year-old son Nick. The television personality recognizes that when he’s tired, he can be snappy with Nick and later regret it.

“I want to be more patient, I think. Especially towards the end of the week after I get a little tired, I tend to get a little short with Nick,” he said.

Nick, as Roker has previously revealed, is autistic. Thus, he faces a unique set of challenges that other teens without special needs may not. However, this doesn’t mean that Roker is not an extremely proud father. In a conversation with Kotb, he explained that he admires his son for the way he “just kind of attacks” his challenges “head-on.”

“He’s very goal-oriented and he’s a great kid. As a lot of parents who have kids who have special needs [know], they can try your patience. Not that they mean to, or anything like that. I look at him and all that he does and I want to be a better person.”

In addition to being on the autism spectrum, Nick is also possibly obsessive-compulsive. Roker went on to explain that whenever he finds himself growing frustrated with his son, his wife Deborah reminds him that as a father, he has to show Nick that he not only loves his son but likes him and admires him.

One of the ways Roker maintains a strong relationship with his family, and especially his son, is by keeping up with family traditions and ensuring that he spends one on one quality time with his kids. As The Inquisitr previously reported, he has a few different fun activities he likes to do to bond with Nick. One of these activities is father-son mani-pedis which they enjoyed last month.

Roker documented their luxurious outing in an Instagram post. They both seemed to be clearly enjoying the outing, both of them smiling broadly at the camera and flashing a thumbs-up sign.