After spending eight of their precious childhood years living in the White House, Michelle Obama is surprised her daughters, Malia, 21 and Sasha, 18 have any friends. During an interview with Gayle King at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, the former first lady talked of what it was like for her and her husband, former President Barack Obama to raise two children during the years of his presidency from 2009 to 2017. “I’m surprised my kids have any friends,” she joked in reference to what arranging a sleepover entailed.
VIEW GALLERYMichelle joked she's surprised her daughters have any friends after spending their childhood in the White House
The Becoming author continued by playing out the 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,’” she 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.’”
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The mother-of-two added, ”And thank you for having Malia and Sasha over. Oh, by the way, there’s gonna be a man with a gun sitting outside of your door all night. Let him come in and use the bathroom. It would just be nice.'"
VIEW GALLERYMalia and Sasha were in second and fifth grade when they moved into the White House
Furthermore, the 55-year-old author explained how she and Barack focused on making their daughters’ childhood as normal as possible. “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 the former FLOTUS.
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“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.’ “
In the past, Michelle has opened up about bonding with her girls and how many aspects of her life are relatable to what they’re currently experiencing in life today. However, growing up in the White House was definitely something new for the entire family, but there's no question the family-of-four powered through it all, thus becoming one of America's most influential families.
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© Getty Images
