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Subscribe to RSSShe’s the wife of the leader of the free world, and on the day TODAY.com sat with her, she squeezed a conversation between three engagements in as many hours.
But Michelle Obama, first lady, activist, female face of the nation and parent to Sasha, 10 and Malia, 13, has one concern at the top of her mind: “Like any mother, I’m just hoping I don’t mess them up.”
Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy
First lady Michelle Obama holds a roundtable discussion on the Let's Move initiative in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House. That's TODAY.com on the end, very intently taking notes.
Sound familiar?
"That's all we're living to do. It's like, at the end of the day, I find myself checking with friends: 'How did the girls seem?' And they'll say, 'No, they're the same kids. They're the same girls.' I'm like, 'OK, good. Just tell me if you see anything. Just let me know.' "
So far, so good. “They’re good,” she said. “That’s why the president and I are so happy. Even when times are tough, in the end you are as happy as your least happy child.
"When your kids are healthy, your dog is healthy, you find that you sleep a little bit better."
More from TODAY Moms: The Mom-Judging Olympics
The first lady was speaking Monday to a panel of digital journalists in the first-ever roundtable of its kind. All were writers from prominent sites, and all were wondering: What does it take to raise two kids in the White House?
First, as their mother warned her staff, the girls are not to be treated like "little princesses." Malia does her own laundry, and they clean their own rooms. "We fight for their normalcy," the first lady said. “We’re living in a place that’s not used to kids.”
And how. As we sat in an imposing dining room better suited for summits with heads of states than playdates, it was clear this cavernous old house, for all its beauty, could use some child-friendliness. So when they moved in, Sasha and Malia chose their own bedding, to decorate their own rooms.
White House chef will get you to eat your veggies
And getting out of town is a priority. "Vacations are important because they're not living in a house with photographers all around, and they can go outside, maybe go to the beach, and just not think about that," said Mrs. Obama. "That becomes important, to keep those traditions. We fight for that for them, even amid criticism. Because those are the things that make them feel like themselves.”
The official Bo and Mrs. O portrait, released by the White House Monday.
The first lady is strict about "screen time" -- her catchphrase for when kids are allowed to be on their computers. It’s a big part of her campaign to reduce childhood obesity, and she recommends limiting it to one to two hours a day, per the American Academy of Pediatrics.
When 13-year-old Malia is online, she has to be having a conversation about school. “Sometimes I have to come through the room. It takes a couple of times to be like, 'That didn't sound like math to me.' So she knows that at any point I’m going to walk into her room, which I do, that it keeps her honest. But she’s a good kid. She doesn't try to break the rules. We’ll see about Sasha. She’s coming up."
More from TODAY Moms: Baby thinks magazine is broken iPad
The dinner table is a no-device zone not just for the girls, but for mom and dad too (“Barack is the worst,” Mrs. Obama admitted). On TV, the kids watch what they want; their mother just makes sure they talk about what they're watching.
As for the Kardashians, that, um, other famous American family, their shows get a veto from the president himself. "When they watch that stuff," said Mrs. Obama, "he doesn't like that as much."
Wearing a Target dress (“that was my last trip,” she said of getting snapped while shopping at the megastore), Mrs. Obama spoke candidly about the privileges and challenges of life in a spotlight that gets “a little annoying, a little hot,” at times. She’s wistful for a simpler life.
Michelle Obama: Nobody recognized me at Petco
What she misses most is just ordering an ice cream cone “and having the kid behind the counter ignore me just like he's ignoring everyone else he's serving.” She gets tastes of it: During one trip to Target with an aide, she was approached in an aisle by a woman -- who merely wanted her to grab something from the top shelf.
Still, the first lady said she's lucky to live in the White House, where a staff -- and her own mom -- are available 24/7. “There’s always somebody here who can create that safety net,” she said. "Which is why I find myself being an advocate for women who don't have it. I know how blessed I am, and I know how rare it is to live in an institution that can provide you with that kind of support. I believe every mother needs a personal assistant. And a chef. And what else do we need? A driver. But we don’t have it. We have to make it work, and make it work for each other.”
At 5 a.m. each day, she starts returning emails. Then, once the kids are off to school, it’s upstairs to the in-house gym for exercise. Her main motivator for staying in shape? “For me, it's, 'I can't afford to buy another set of clothes.' It's a cost issue, if I look at Barack and say, 'You know what, those dresses I wore last week, none of them fit.' "
And also (oh thank God she admitted this): Vanity. "That’s just sort of the honest thing," Mrs. Obama said. "It's like a picture in the newspaper that looks crazy is my motivation. It's like, 'Oh my God, is that me? I can't look.' So that can be motivating.”
To keep on her regime, she intentionally asks the staff to stock the family's private kitchen with healthy snacks -- because, she said, if there were a bag of chips hiding in those cupboards, "I'd eat the whole thing."
You heard me: Even the woman with the nation’s most famous lateral muscles thinks it all sucks sometimes. "I will hate working out and I will be cursing the name of the people who told me to do it. But there will come a time when ... you have a cardio pop, an epiphany where actually it does feel better."
She stocks her iPod workout mix with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Janelle Monae (she likes “Tightrope”), Sting, Michael Jackson, the Beatles and Mary J. Blige. “A lot of us have to get over the painful hump of starting,” she said. But, she added, give it six weeks of exercising –- no measuring or weighing in -- and stick with it.
Somehow, when she says it, it sounds so reasonable.
That's because she’s kind of a powerhouse: I mean, look at those arms! Plus, she's not the only supermom trying to do it all. She understands that everyone wants to effect change in the world around us, and make it a better place for our kids.
When that all starts to get overwhelming, she has one piece of advice: Just chill.
“That's when you know you need a break. When you feel like, 'Oh, I haven't changed the environment!' Just take a bath. Eat a piece of chocolate! You need one.”
If you want to make the world better, start with what you’re doing already –- being a great mom to great kids.
“The truth is, the greatest power I feel like I have is raising two more intelligent, decent people,” she said, “and putting them in the world prepared to give and contribute.”
Read more:
We all need help navigating the corn maze of motherhood
Family dinners: Important, or overrated?
Do Americans hate kids?
Ready for his close-up! White House releases official Bo portrait
Slideshow: Life inside the White House
Mrs. Obama's effortless style
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Leave a Comment:
So nice to have a woman in the white house who combines warmth with smarts. Love her focus on keeping her girls grounded. What she's doing for military families is outstanding.
This woman has more class in her little finger than any RWer about to post has in their entire party.
Nice picture of the dog.
Bingo
LOL. Why do you think they published this article? It's way to easy. They rarely ever published trivial articles about other first ladies.
Too late. She has already screwed up her children by showing them the dishonest way of life. She wouldnt know what class was if it jumped up and bit her.
BiteMe ...oh for crying out loud ..just ..just STFU !!!
MrIndia: No. I wont. I have the right to speak my mind and I wont let some goose stepping nazi like you try to censor me. If you dont like what I have to say, thats too bad chump. She is using this article as nothing more than a re-direction ploy for her worthless husband, and she is trying to use her children with her to help seel thier garbage. She is a worthless human being like her husband and an obviously horribl parent for using her children as nothing more than political gain. Shut that up loser.
OMG MrIndia The name you have chosen is the exponential of your stupidity LOL
Edward : a racist bigoted uneducated rightie calling others stupid ? niceeee...
As for BiteMe : do you hear yourself ..."she is using this article to blah blah" ...you actually believe that she reached out to the publisher and made her write an article about her just to show the righties what a good mom she is ? you freaking nutjobs on the right have fallen off the cliff of insanity into the cesspool of stupidity ...STFU and die mother@!$%#ers
mrindia: You are really over the top with your immature, illiterate posts. Please stop.
Biteme--Well done. You have demonstrated that 1) people who dislike the Obamas don't have a keen grasp of Standard American English. 2) People who dislike the Obamas are extremely quick to start using slur terms. 3) People who dislike the Obamas have a tendency to post and post and post and try to shout down those who don't agree with them, as they have a tendency to only like hearing their own voices.
Oh, that wasn't what you had in mind? Well, that is what you've done. Maybe you should stop and consider your tactics rather than just bombing the thread with multiple postings that really don't do much more than advertise your own biases.
You know, I seriously wonder if the Murdoch empire employs certain people to do nothing more than troll threads and look for those upon which they can employ character assassination tactics against anyone Murdoch doesn't like. They really seem to be very quick on threads like this one--still, not much to be done about it as threads like this are open to all comments.
But, really, one does need to develop some tactics for dealing with trolls. Let's remember that the Bush children (both Bush I's children--including GWB--and Bush II's children) were extremely badly behaved, engaged in illegal activities (doing cocaine, smoking marijuana and underaged drinking), and would have wound up in jail if they hadn't had wealthy parents. It's fair for the media to note, in passing, that both Malia and Sasha are far more closely monitored and to hope that they will not fall prey to the pitfalls that face the children of politicians.
Putting all politics aside,I've got to hand her this much.She's a very, very good Mother.She really loves those kids!
And how do you know this?
brewzky, how do YOU doubt it? please.
Brewsky - Do all of us a favor and grab another beer and drink yourself into oblivion. Cynical jerk!!!!
Sorry, but I have to imagine almost everyone with children love them more than your own life. Why is it any different with her? You do know why this article was published, don't you?
This article reminds me of when she first became "First Mother" and immediately "Corporate Toys" reared its ugly head and made "dolls for Exploitation Profit" out of her daughters and she said "NO!-NOT!~Not going to happen to "MY" children."
It was just in the news last night about "Corporate Drug" rearing its ugly head for "Exploition Profit" off Cancer-stricken American Citizen Children. Where's her husband with the "NO!-NOT!~Not gonna happen because it's gonna STOP! Right now...a.k.a....YESTERDAY!!!"
This woman is the epitome of brains, beauty, and class and an outstanding role model. Truly an inspiration.
I know some idiot is going to get on here, spew lots of filth, and show their ignorance. Bracing myself....
You've already done that.
Good one Biteme..LOL
Gross. is her polling that bad we need another one of these articles/interviews? Getting out of town on vacation cause that's important? Tell that to the family struggling to pay the bills and can't afford to get out of town, like my family.
Oh, of course! The people who can actually afford to take vacations should all stay home because there are people who can't afford it. Everyone needs vacations, especially if they lead a stressful life. I'm sorry you can't afford to take one. I hope the things improve in your life. In the mean time, it isn't her fault that you can't take a vacation, so try not to blame.
Sally, most people use their own money to take vacations, not tax payer dollars.
So you are saying that Bush, who took all of those vacations should have just stayed home and not spent that tax payer money? Because, it is well documented that Bush took way more vacations than the Obama's have taken, but I don't see any criticism about that. And every president before him took vacations too. Yes, even the president and his family have the right to take vacations.
The vacation time dispute is only documented by biased sources. Try the truth sometime. It's quite refreshing.
Mess them up? Here is the lesson they learned from their dad.
Sasha: Daddy, I borrowed $20 from my friend and spent it last week, and I don't have any money to pay her back.
Daddy Barack: That's OK, Honey. Your friend's parents don't need all that money anyway.
Sasha: Is it OK for me to borrow and spend another $10 from my friend this week?
Daddy Barack: Of course that's OK. You are doing good. You will have cut the deficit in half in one week.
P.S. Daddy, I spent it on price-gouged gas for my car so I could drive around this town looking for non-existent job interviews to go so I could maybe bring in some revenues to replace deficit; coupled with "the fact" that $20 worth of price-gouged gas wasn't even close to enough to get me 6 States away to where all the local companies' positions have been "virtually" outsourced to, when not "literally".
Does this make any difference to the larger picture; and your answer, DAD?
She sounds like a very nice, honest, down to earth person, and very energetic. Even though she's the FLOTUS, she has the same concerns and worries that the rest of us regular moms have about whether we are doing a good job in raising our kids.
It's nice to see that she hasn't let the fact that they have a staff spoil her daughters, she still lets them be their own persons by having them choose their own bedding, and having them do their own laundry. How refreshing!
Please do not compare her class with past presidents wives or foreign presidents wives, check out some of the pictures that have been taken of her and others wives, she has no class.
Please explain how she has no class. Is it really necessary to insult this woman just because you don't like her? I've seen pictures of other first ladies, and she is right up there.
Too late.
I think that it is good for us to see her as a mother, and not just as the Presidents wife. It is good to reaffirm that even parents that are in a different economic class still have the same worries and issues. She seems to be a very good role model for her children, and it is good to see that the kids are being taught responsibility and values.
Love the picture of Michelle & Bo! It's been apparent from the first time any of us got to "meet" this family, long before they took up residence at the White House, that Mr. & Mrs. O were great at parenting. Those precious girls have always been well behaved, respectful and seemed at ease with all going on around them. It's a delight getting glimpses into their private lives and will be fun watching them continue to grow to adulthood. Bless the whole family!
Which one was Michelle? That was to easy, sorry. And you actually call the dog my it's name. Wow.
oh man, just shut up you spec of a human. you're poison is not welcome in this positive forum.
It's your, not you're as that is a contraction of you are. No wonder you libs are so easy to sway.
brewz - its people like you that give the good repubs a bad name. If you had a legitimate criticizm, it would be OK, but comments like yours are just ignorant and mean.
Wow! Sally Lu, What a great reply! Thanks for speaking that and pointing it out.
She is teaching her children how to use other people's hard earned money and tour other countries instead of using that money to re-enforce this countries economy. She has shown that even, so called "down to earth" people can do worthless tasks. Try to teach children that if you dont have the money, dont spend others.
I wonder if she is teaching them to not be proud of America and dislike whites, military and the secret service? In times of trouble like "BO" is in, you need to bring in the "human touch" no matter how phony it is and she is as much or more phony than "BO" himslf. Enjoy the time you have left "BO" and family and take as many vacations as you can on the American people's money. They need to head back to Chicago and to that church so their children can learn what they beleive in.
the cons can't stand this! mrs.obama you are a great person and great mother i am sure. proud to have you as first lady..
aerial,
I'm so glad to see that you're proud to have her as afirst lady. Now, go tell her how she can FINALLY be proud of her country.
I'm laughing....I'm laughing some more.........
This is a positive article. Let's keep the posts (and replies) positive and out of the political gutter. Join me in flagging posts that are not in the spirit of the piece.
exactly. agreed. we dont need any of that garbage. It's a positive and should be accepted as such.
I absolutely love you shallow libs. Since a liberal writer publishes a trivial article in a positive light, you say that it should just be accepted. Typical hypocrite. What if a slanted writer published a piece on how much G.W. loved his girls. I can only imagine the filth coming out of your open mouth.
Brew, this isn't the place for political vitriol. There will be plenty more opportunities today to post your constitutionally protected opposition to the administration's policies. I don't think it's too much to ask to exercise some restraint and hold an acidic tongue in a thread where it is wholly inappropriate.
To address your assertion that I am a hypocrite, I am also flagging posts from my side that are using this article as a platform to redirect attacks on Dubya, Sarah Palin, and others from the opposing ideological camp.
Many props to those of you from both sides who are keeping it positive!
ripcity, FREE SPEECH is FREE SPEECH, whether or not you and a community like the "content" or "spirit" of it. It's not okay to round up others in a community forum to shut down an Individual's FREE SPEECH. If it's an "advertisement", i.e. "an expression for a Commercial product", than it's not FREE Speech, because it has governing regulation of legalities attached to it.(or is suppose to have) The purpose of the existence of this forum is suppose to be to "allow" Individuals to "freely" express, actually, a view and spirit that is "different", also. Just saying..... :)
What a wonderful picture! lol. love Bo. I'll save it as my wallpaper now. Thank you!
She should be more concerned about her husband messing up their future.
And yes, I'm a liberal democrat who voted for him in 2008 but is having serious 2nd thoughts on voting for him again. Especially since he threw Israel under the bus.
Love that portrait of her and the family pet....
At least the secret service is not dropping them off for some underage drinking like Laura Bush's kids.
Yeahhh. Here we go. I guess you forgot to mention that Laura Bush's kids were in college and almost 21. Typical lib.
Almost 21, that makes it "almost" legal. That makes her a great mom, and top of that, she's white.
As a mother, regardless of my political ideology, I appreciate Michelle Obama's concern for her children. The public scrutiny has to be difficult.
It must be fun for the staff in the White House to have those adorable children playing there.
This is a very insightful article. We are mothers first above all else. Surely we can find common ground there.
I just love the First Lady!! Because I had the same thoughts about my kids - and I wonder everything is not perfect - how much of it is my fault?
A mother's joy/curse :)
She embodies grace, kindness, intelligence and true love for her family and this country. Apparently, some of you haters and negative cynics can't get past your smallness to recognize it. Sadly, no surprise there. Still, it doesn't change her truth.
What a great mom - always on the job, setting the good example - not just for her kids but for the country - being a parent is the hardest job on the planet, but if you do it right your kids will be stong, intellegent, good souls. Able to continue the circle - Sounds like Sasha and Malia are gonna be just fine
Let me be real here. I have lived and worked and went to school in many many many places. I get around ALOT and looking forward to calling it quits and retire at 55 in 3 years. Whats my point? When I read these posts attacking Michelle Obama and this article I know these kinds of inferior hick whites first hand. As a irish white I am ashamed of what the repub/teabagger sissy men have become. One punch is all it would take with these inferior hacks. ONE PUNCH.
Enough said.
Dwayne: First of all no one believes you as no good Irish man is named Dewayne. And why do you make the assumption that everyone who dislikes the President and/or his wife are white hicks? I'd give you the first swing any time.
I must admit, she is teaching them very well. How to spend hard working peoples tax dollars. I mean that is the liberal way, right. Let's spend $5 million taking friends and family to Africa while millions are out of work. But hey, we can just keep taxing those that are working to pay. She is doing that part very well. And politics aside, I'm sure she absolutely loves her kids like every parent.
Just keep watching that Faux News for all of the untrue info you come here to spout. Troll.
you really have to feel for the children, having such a homely mother who hates america and is so unpatriotic, at least she hasnt abandoned them so maybe theres hope for them
Barbara Bush. Now there's a "babe". Rush would use up another suitcase of viagra on her, if he wasn't so attracted to young asian boys.