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Michelle Obama says her mother’s willingness to admit her own shortcomings was what made her a great parent.
On Wednesday’s episode of the “IMO” podcast, which she co-hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson, Obama reflected on their childhood and their parents’ approach to raising kids.
“I remember them talking about their parents. What went right in their parents’ parenting and what went wrong,” Obama told Robinson. “One of the beautiful things about Mom and Dad, and Mom more so, was that she was very upfront with us about her strengths, but also her weaknesses.”
The former first lady said their parents often explained how they were raised themselves, including what they felt their own parents got right and what they didn’t.
“What I remember so distinctly is Mom saying on more than one occasion, ‘Hey, look, this is my first time being a parent, and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.’ And that always resonated with me,” Obama said.
Robinson added that it gave them a deeper understanding that their parents were just “regular folks” doing their best to figure things out.
“And, as a future parent, the grace to be able to say, ‘Well, I’m not sure how this works.’ I think that makes you a better parent when you come into the game knowing that you’re not an expert at this,” Robinson said.
Obama said their parents understood that showing their flaws to their children wasn’t always a bad thing.
“So many parents feel like they got to show up perfectly for their kids or else they won’t get the respect or they won’t have the authority,” Obama said. “I don’t know what it is, but Mom and Dad did a beautiful job of making themselves plain to us. Like not just being our parents, but being, as you put it, human beings,” she said.
Obama and Robinson aren’t the only ones who’ve talked about seeing their parents as regular people who make mistakes.
During a podcast appearance in March, Kate Hudson — who has 3 kids with 3 different dads — says she learned to apologize to her kids whenever she’s in the wrong.
In an early June interview, Miley Cyrus said she now sees her mom and dad as individuals outside their parent-child relationship.
A representative for Obama and Robinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
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