Michelle Obama Admits She Doesn’t Miss Having Malia and Sasha at Home: “Bye…”
By Alexus Mosley
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Michelle Obama loves her daughters, but apparently, she’s doing just fine with an empty nest.
The former first lady got candid about life now that her daughters Malia and Sasha Obama are grown and living on their own, joking that unlike her husband Barack Obama, she wasn’t exactly devastated when it came time for them to leave home.
“I don’t miss ’em,” Michelle joked during an episode of her IMO podcast with brother Craig Robinson and guest Jon Stewart.
Before anyone starts clutching their pearls, she quickly clarified.
“I love them,” Michelle said, noting that she was actually planning to see her daughters for dinner that same night.
But when it came to sending them off to college? Michelle and Barack apparently reacted very differently.
“Barack cried when they went to college, and I was like, ‘Bye…’” she recalled.
For Michelle, having adult daughters seems to mean enjoying Malia and Sasha without quite as much of the anxiety that came with raising them.
“Now, Friday nights aren’t wrecked with terror and fear about, ‘Where are you, where are you?’” she explained.
Michelle also said she’s proud of the women her daughters have become and feels secure in their relationship after spending so much quality time with them throughout their lives.
The comments offer another glimpse into how Michelle has been navigating her post-White House, post-child-rearing years.
She has previously described this period as a “new phase of life,” one in which she and Barack are discovering what their relationship looks like without the everyday responsibilities of raising children dominating the household.
It’s particularly surreal considering how young Malia and Sasha were when America first met them.
The sisters were just children when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, meaning much of their childhood unfolded while their family occupied one of the most scrutinized homes in the world.
Now they’re adults with lives and careers of their own and have largely maintained a relatively private existence despite growing up as two of America’s most recognizable presidential children.
Michelle still gets dinner with her girls. She just doesn’t have to spend Friday night wondering when they’re coming home.
Sounds like Mom may have earned this one.