sasha malia obama home life revealed

Malia and Sasha Obama's life behind closed doors revealed – including down-to-earth role model

Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters grew up in the White House

US Managing Editor
February 24, 2021

Barack and Michelle Obama are doting parents to daughters Malia and Sasha, who despite their unique childhoods growing up in the White House, managed to live relatively private lives.

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The famous siblings lives in the iconic building for eight years, and during that time, their parents made sure their lives were as normal as possible, with everything from school trips to playdates still on the cards.

"Even as Barack being the President of the United States, he worked his schedule around their schedule. They weren't waiting until 9pm to eat because dad was running late.

"They never couldn't not go somewhere or do something because of dad. I never wanted them to resent the presidency, or resent what their dad did," Michelle said during a conversation with her mother and brother on The Michelle Obama podcast.

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What's more, Michelle's mum, Marian Robinson, moved in with the family during these years to help raise Malia and Sasha, and Barack recently praised her for helping his daughters remain grounded.

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"Marian didn't understand all the fuss. She was great to have around with the girls," the former President said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Malia and Sasha Obama had an incredibly down-to-earth upbringing despite their unique living situation

He added: "Maybe one of my greatest successes, Michelle's greatest successes, in those eight years was raising these great girls, who don't have an attitude, don't feel entitled.

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"But part of it is because of my mother-in-law. If she saw them acting bratty, she's say 'You guys haven't done anything. Why are you acting special? You're just here for the ride.' And they'd suddenly go, 'You're right, Grandma,'" he continued. "She was a huge blessing."

Malia and Sasha spent eight years living in the White House

During a very rare public appearance on her daughter's podcast, Marian opened up about her granddaughters' childhood.

She said: "I think the girls did really well with what they had to deal with. They pretty much just went about their schoolwork as just a normal child, even though the Secret Service was standing outside their door."

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Marian often attended public events with the family, and has an incredibly close relationship with her grandchildren.

Doting mum Michelle was protective of her children's privacy

Michelle previously revealed during an interview on the Today Show with Jenna Bush Hager that she struck a deal with the press so that her children wouldn't be followed around by photographers during Barack's presidency.

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She said: "I tried to make sure that they weren't out there to be crushed. But oh gosh, it's the mamma bear within us. "We tried to set up boundaries within their exposure which is why you would rarely see the girls outside public events.

"There were a set of things where we told the press the girls are going to be here, this is the time. But don't go to their school."

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