Michelle Obama is still getting used to her daughters, Malia, 24, and Sasha, 21, being all grown up and “on their own.” On Nov. 14, the former first lady appeared on “The Today Show” to promote her forthcoming book, “The Light We Carry,” and boast about her girls. She even dished about how they’re handling adulthood, recalling when the two — who are now roommates — invited her and her husband, former president Barack Obama, over for cocktails.
“They were like, ‘Ah, ah, ah, use a coaster!’ And I’m like, ‘You never used a coaster in my house.'”
“We were like, ‘OK, let’s see what this is going to be like,'” Michelle joked on the talk show. “The first thing they did — well, the martinis were a little weak. I don’t think they knew what it really was. But when we got the glasses, they were like, ‘Ah, ah, ah, use a coaster!’ And I’m like, ‘You never used a coaster in my house.'”
The Obamas have come a long way since their days in the White House. Since leaving in 2017, Michelle has penned two books, including her bestselling 2018 memoir, “Becoming,” which inspired her 2020 Netflix documentary of the same name; Barack released his own book in 2020 titled “A Promised Land” recalling his early political aspirations and first term of his historic presidency; Malia graduated from Harvard University in 2021 and joined the writers’ room for a forthcoming Prime Video series from Donald Glover; and Sasha is currently a student at the University of Southern California after transferring from the University of Michigan.
The family returned to the White House in September for the unveiling ceremony of Barack and Michelle’s history-making official portraits — which are the first to feature a Black president and first lady.
With the Obamas’ many accomplishments, Michelle says she’s “without a doubt” most proud of how her daughters “are each other’s best friends.”
“There was a period of time when they couldn’t stand each other, and I said, ‘You wait,'” she explained of Malia and Sasha’s bond. “‘You are going to wake up one day, and you’re going to look over at that other person, and you’re going to know that you two share something very unique,’ especially given what they’ve been through. And to see them in that place where they’re one another’s support systems and they’ve got each other’s backs, it just, ah! It’s the thing a mother would want.”
Michelle also recalled the time she received backlash when she first entered the White House for stating that her first job was being “mom-in-chief.” She added: “If I couldn’t raise my children, make sure they got through that experience whole, how could I help anybody else?” Michelle’s journey with motherhood is one of a few topics she discusses in her new book, which releases on Nov. 15.