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Hoda Kotb Shares the 'Best Thing' That Happened Her First Day After Leaving “Today ”(Exclusive)

Hoda Kotb knew that saying goodbye to Today after 17 years would be bittersweet, but she never anticipated what would happen on her very first day of retirement.

“I actually wasn't sure how it was going to be,” Kotb, 60, tells PEOPLE about her transition into retirement while attending a Runway for Recovery event, which honors breast cancer survivors. “When you leave something that you've done your whole life to then step into a Monday, you're like, ‘Oh my God, it's Monday. What is happening here? How is this going to feel?’ I made myself a schedule because I really wanted to have something going on that day.”

Kotb — who retired to spend more time with her young daughters Haley Joy, 9, and Hope Catherine, 5 — says that despite her initial uncertainty, her doubts quickly disappeared that Monday morning.

Jake Chessum Hoda KotB and her daughters,ÃÂ Haley Joy (5) andÃÂ Hope Catherine (3)ÃÂ photographed on July 18th in Bryant

“The best thing happened first thing in the morning,” Kotb shares. “I was sitting in my office and my daughter Haley came running down the stairs. It was a full moon, I remember it was so bright in my office, and she goes, ‘You really are here.’ I was like, ‘I really am here.’ In that moment, confirmation comes over and over and over again.”

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The reassurance continued when she went upstairs to visit her younger daughter. “I went up to see my five-year-old and she only said one word to me when I went into the room. She looked at me and she goes, ‘Snuggle?’ I go, ‘Yes.’ So I crawled in bed with her. That's it.”

For Kotb, the decision to be there for her children was about cherishing the “little things” with them. “Here's the thing, life is about tiny little moments. It's about the in-betweens. It's not about all the big things—it's all the little things,” the former Today co-host explains.

She adds, “So I've been loving this. I've been loving sleeping in a little bit. I've been loving having breakfast with my kids and walking to school. I mean, I'm with 10 kids and a couple of moms walking to school together. And I go, ‘This is awesome.’ Look at me with my sweats on and my coffee. I'm into it.”

Though no longer part of Today, Kotb says she remains the show’s biggest fan, and her former co-hosts are still cheering her on. “Girl, I am high-fiving. I'm texting, I'm calling,” she tells PEOPLE about still watching the show every morning. “They're like, ‘What can we do? When do you need me?’ So they are here for my next great adventure.”

Kotb, who describes retirement as “feeling fresh” and “like a new dawning,” says her next adventure may come sooner than expected. “I’m going to be doing a huge dive into wellness. We're going to launch something coming up in May, and I am not sleeping,” she shares. “I'm very excited about the next chapter.”