Michelle Obama has opened up about keeping her daughters Malia Obama and Sasha Obama out of tabloids during her husband’s presidency. She said it was particularly difficult when the two were teenagers.
She spoke about the challenge
The former first lady of the United States got candid explaining the challenges she and her husband Barack Obama faced in keeping their daughters Malia Obama, 26 and Sasha Obama, 23 out of the tabloids.
It was particularly hard
Michelle said protecting her daughters from the tabloids during Obama’s presidency was especially difficult when they were teenagers.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa on Wednesday April 29, Michelle said, “That was a lot of work, and it got harder as they got older.”
Michelle felt it was easier when they were younger
The 61-year-old former first lady felt that it was normal for Malia and Sasha to dive into new experiences at first when their father initially took office in 2008 as they were only 10 and 7 years old respectively.
But she felt that the public might not share her view of her kids’ experiences.
She recalled what it was like
Recalling what it was like when her daughters were younger, Michelle said, “They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things.”
Weekends were especially hard for her
“And every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six,” the former first lady added.
She emphasized that keeping her daughters’ experiences out of the spotlight was “a lot of work” and required “a lot of intentionality.”
The mother had to work ‘twice as hard’
“When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal,” Michelle went on.
Things as simple as play dates were difficult
“Imagine setting up the first play date or the first time the kids get invited to a play date. The process of having my children at your house meant that an advanced team had to come and question and search your house and ask if you had drugs and guns,” she said.
It’s different now that they’re adults
Michelle added that now that her daughters are independent, her mission has shifted from keeping them out of the spotlight to making sure they know how to deal with pressure that comes with their father being a former president.
She explains it as the ‘Obama tax’
The mother quipped, “We call that the Obama tax for them. You’ll have it the rest of your life, but you also have a lot of benefits.”
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She said, “I’m trying to make this feel normal to them, because you don’t want them to start thinking, number one, they’re full of themselves, that any of this is about them and that their job is to go about their lives.”
Michella also said she tries to get them in the mindset that “this world is not about you. This is just your dad’s job.”
