Eight years in theWhite Housedoesn’t exactly make it easy to make friends.
Michelle Obamamade an appearance at theEssence Festivalin New Orleans on Saturday, where she opened up during an hour-long chat withGayle KingforCBS This Morningabout how she and husband former PresisdentBarack Obamaraised their daughters —Sasha, now 18, andMalia, 21 — during his presidency from 2009 to 2017.
“Our focus was to make sure they just did what they were supposed to do, and that meant we had to pretend like all the craziness around them wasn’t happening,” said theBecomingauthor, 55. “For eight years, it was like, ‘Yup, yup, your dad’s president. That doesn’t have anything to do with you. Just take your lil’ butt to school. Yes, you have security, just ignore them. They’re not here for you.’ ”
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Pete Souza/The White House via Getty
The former first lady joked that “I’m surprised my kids have any friends” considering what going to sleepovers entailedfor the girls growing up, detailing a too-real scenario.
“This is the call: It’s like, ‘Hello? Okay, we’re gonna need your social security number. We’re gonna need your date of birth. There are gonna be men coming to sweep your house,’ ” the former first lady said. ” ‘If you have guns and drugs, just tell them yes because they’re going to find it anyway. Don’t lie. They’re not gonna take ’em, they just need to know where they are.’ ”
Lawrence Jackson
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For Mrs. Obama and the former president, 57, raising two girls in the somewhat public eye was “stressful” — an experience that now as “empty nesters,” sinceSasha recently graduated high school, means they get to spend some time “rediscovering” themselves as a couple.
“I’m looking over and I’m going, ‘Hey, you! There you are. Where have you been for 21 years?’ ” she joked of her current dynamic with her husband. “This is the beauty of finding apartner that you really love and respectbecause after all the highs and lows, the ups and downs … we have each other, which makes the journey worth it.”
“Not only were we parenting teenagers, but we were parenting teenagers where, every Saturday night, you had to worry about whether your kid was gonna wind up onPage Six,”she shared, admitting the couple are dealing with “so much less stress” in that aspect now.
source: people.com
