Michelle Obama was once “frustrated” enough with her daughters to say she was “done parenting” them.
The former first lady told “IMO” podcast listeners Wednesday about the challenging moment with Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, during which her husband, Barack Obama, “was traveling.”
The 61-year-old recalled, “I was at home trying to get the girls to bed… They were probably 7 and 3 at the time.”
Acknowledging that the little ones were “usually great kids,” Michelle admitted they were “rambunctious” that particular evening.
When “no one was listening” to the lawyer, she announced, “Well, that’s it… I’m done parenting. You seem like you guys have this all figured out, and you can do this on your own. So have at it.”
Michelle and Barack’s eldest child quickly apologized since she doesn’t know what she’d “do without” her mom — but their youngest had a different response.
“She took her blankie, and she turned around and went back upstairs to watch TV,” Michelle said of the then-toddler. “As if to say, like, ‘Thank God. At last. This is what I wanted from you, lady. I am 3. I can handle this. I’m going back upstairs.’
“She got five steps up, and I was like, ‘If you don’t turn around and get back down here,’” she continued. “Well, it worked for one. Didn’t work for the other.”
Michelle noted that the anecdote is an accurate depiction of Malia and Sasha’s current personalities.
“My younger daughter, she wants to learn her way,” the “Becoming” author explained. “She doesn’t want to be told that this is how you do it. We tell her, but she’s got to learn on her own.”
This dynamic led to Barack having a more “difficult” time raising Sasha, Michelle said on “IMO” over the summer.
While Malia is a people “pleaser,” her younger sister is not.
“Sasha is like a cat,” Michelle explained in August. “She’s like, ‘Don’t touch me, don’t pet me. I’m not pleasing you. You come to me.’”
Michelle and Barack, 64, learned to “be chameleon[s]” as parents.
The couple tied the knot in October 1992, welcoming Malia and Sasha in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
Malia is a Harvard University graduate and filmmaker, while her sibling has a sociology degree from the University of Southern California.
While the girls have yet to appear on Michelle and brother Craig Robinson’s podcast, Barack was a guest in July.
He poked fun at rampant split rumors surrounding his and Michelle’s marriage during the episode, quipping that their relationship had been “touch and go for a while.”
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