Michelle Obama Shares Details About Raising Malia, Sasha While Barack Was President

Michelle Obama was very careful with raising her daughters Malia and Sasha while her husband, Barack, was still the president of the United States because she didn't want them to resent the presidency.

The former first lady got candid about parenting while they were still at the White House in the season finale of The Michelle Obama Podcast. She had her mom Marian Robinson and older brother, Craig, as special guests as they discussed the challenges of parenting. In the episode, Michelle shared the extra lengths she took for her children to have a normal childhood despite their dad working in the Oval Office.

“I always tried to make sure that I wasn’t pouting in front of the kids when Barack wasn’t there,” Michelle said as quoted by Evening Standard.

“If I had made a big deal out of it and said, ‘Oh my god, your dad’s not here again! Oh, he’s missing this’ or ‘Oh, I just wish…’ then that’s the signal to them, ‘Well this isn’t normal,’” Michelle added.

"Even as Barack being the president of the United States, he worked his schedule around their schedule. They weren’t waiting until 9 o’clock at night to eat because dad was running late. They never couldn’t not go somewhere or do something because of dad. I never wanted them to resent the presidency, or resent what their dad did."

Malia was only 10 years old while Sasha was 7 when Barack became the president of the United States and the family moved to the White House. Michelle said it seemed like she plucked her little girls out of their normal lives and put them in a historic mansion with butlers, maids, florists and gardeners.

Because of this, she had to make sure her daughters would understand boundaries and responsibilities and have the values her mom also instilled in her. Michelle's mother, Marian, moved with them and helped her raise Sasha and Malia.

Malia and Sasha are now both in college and Michelle couldn't be prouder of her daughters. For her, they "did really well with what they had to deal with.”

"They pretty much just went about their schoolwork as just a normal child, even though the Secret Service was standing outside their door," she added.

In another podcast episode, Michelle shared the secret to her very strong marriage with Barack. The ex-FLOTUS said it's about not giving up on each other especially when things are rough.

"Young couples, they face these challenges and they’re ready to give up because they think they’re broken," she shared.

"If that breaks a marriage, then Barack and I have been broken off and on throughout our marriage, but we have a very strong marriage. And if I had given up on it, if I had walked away from it in those tough times, then I would’ve missed all the beauty that was there as well.”