While it’s been nearly a decade since Michelle Obama left the White House, the former First Lady is now opening up about some of her most emotional and personal experiences, including her family life and dynamics with her husband, Barack Obama, and her daughters, Sasha and Malia.
Michelle recently detailed one of the moments she did not take for granted during her motherhood journey. During a conversation with Amy Poehler on her new podcast, 'Good Hang With Amy Poehler,' Michelle opened up about a deeply personal bonding experience with her eldest daughter, Malia.
The emotional moment was one that she never had the chance to enjoy during their White House years. “I realized for the first time, I was driving with Malia,” Michelle shared. “We were in Martha’s Vineyard, I’m driving, she turns on the radio and starts playing some of our favorite songs, and we’re singing at the top of our lungs.”
It was a simple moment, but a profound one for the former First Lady, who admitted that kind of scene wasn’t possible when her daughters were teens. “I’d never had that experience with her from teenagers on,” she reflected. “They learned to drive, but I didn’t teach them how to drive. I couldn’t drive with them.”
During Barack Obama’s presidency, security protocols prevented Michelle from sharing the everyday freedoms that many mothers enjoy, like riding in a car with her kids. “The basic kind of bonding moments… we didn’t have time alone in the car, just with me and my daughter, playing the music that we wanted, at the volume that we wanted,” she explained.
Now that Malia is 26 and Sasha is 23, the pair, who spent much of their childhood at home, have stepped away from the spotlight and carved out lives of their own. Malia is pursuing filmmaking in Los Angeles, while Sasha is reportedly working toward a master’s degree in the same city.
Though Michelle remains a public figure, her daily life has taken on a quieter rhythm. She spoke about that shift with the comedian, expressing gratitude for the sense of normalcy that now defines her time.
“I like the islands where we live because... people get used to you, they don’t care,” she said. “At certain times of the year I can walk into town and just go shopping.” Then, laughing, she added, “Sometimes I forget how to use my credit card.”