Michelle Obama has spoken candidly about her two daughters, and how they have grown into adults with “boyfriends” and “real lives”.
Michelle, 58, discussed her and husband Barack Obama’s children, Malia 23, and Sasha 20, and why they are no longer living at home during a recent interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The former first lady recalled how nice it was to have Malia and Sasha around for “that little bit of time,” as they lived with their parents when the pandemic first began in March 2020.
“It was an extra special treat to have them that little bit of time,” she said. “Because being with them as adults, it’s fun. I love them at every age.”
The Becoming author then praised Sasha, who is in college, and Malia, highlighting how they are both “doing well” and are “amazing young women”.
During the conversation, DeGeneres remembered that, when Michelle first came on the show in 2008, before Barack was elected President of the United States, her daughters were 10 and eight-years-old, and big fans of the Jonas Brothers.
Michelle then made a joke about how her daughters’ interests have changed, as she said that they now have “boyfriends” and are bringing “grown men home”.
“They loved the Jonas Brothers. Now they’re bringing grown men home,” she joked. “Before it was just pop bands, now they have boyfriends and real lives and all that stuff.”
“They have grown up right before our very eyes,” she added. “And they’re doing well.”
The television host noted that, after Sasha and Malia grew up in the White House, as Barack left office in January 2017, they adjusted well to the “real world.” In response, Michelle explained that she and her husband had always wanted to prepare their daughters to be “out in the world”.
“I listened to what my mother said when she was raising us,” she continued. “She said: ‘I’m not raising babies, I’m raising real people to be out in the world.’ And I kept that in mind with the girls.”
Michelle also noted that even when her daughters were living in the White House, they still had to learn how to be “responsible people”.
“I mean they wouldn’t always be in that bubble of the White House,” Michelle added. “So, they had to learn to make their beds. They had to learn how to drive. They had to learn how to be compassionate, independent, responsible people so that they entered the world as responsible, compassionate, capable people. And I think they are amazing young women because of that.”
Michelle has previously opened up about her relationship with her daughters and how she has encouraged them to use their voice.
“I always have wanted them to start practising the power of their voices very early on,” she said in an interview on Good Morning America in March 2021. “Look, if you sit around the dinner table, me and Barack, we can’t get a word in edgewise, and we like it like that. We want to hear their thoughts and their opinions, and that’s where it begins.”
