michelle obama© Photo: Getty Images

Michelle Obama admits seeing daughters Malia and Sasha build their adult lives is 'better' than she expected

The two girls are living together in their own apartment

Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
December 15, 2022

Michelle Obama is in an entirely different phase of her life, following eight years as first lady and some years away from the spotlight following the Obama family's departure from the White House in 2017.

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However, now the best-selling author is more than ready to make her way back into the spotlight, and has been promoting her new book, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on 15 December to promote the instantly popular book, she opened up about how she took the changes in her life as lessons for herself, and for her daughters.

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In conversation with Kelly Clarkson about adjusting not only to a post-White House life but also to life with Barack Obama as empty-nesters, she gave insight into how her family dynamics have changed.

She explained that her two daughters, Malia, twenty-four, and Sasha, twenty-one, are in the "flea market stage" of her life.

Detailing what that means for her, she spoke on what it's like "watching adult children start to create a home for themselves," now that her girls are living together in their own apartment.

© Photo: Getty Images

The girls were tweens when they got to the White House, and now are in and past college

Joking how much they have changed and grown up, like making their parents "weak" martinis and urging them to please use coasters, she said: "They are very cheap now with their own money."

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However, she maintained both her and the former President's and their daughter's change has been better than she could have hoped for.

She also gave insight into their upcoming holiday plans

She said: "Cobbling together an apartment, building a life, creating their own friendships, watching them build their own community, it's like, better than I expected."

Though she said: "I miss having them with me but just watching them become real people in the world, and doing okay, adulting…" it is still a new phase she is welcoming with open arms.

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