How Michelle Obama's late mother Marian raised granddaughters Malia and Sasha in the White House — inside their bond

Although Marian was a native of Chicago, she was encouraged by her two children to move to D.C. and the White House when Barack was elected POTUS, and she was reluctant at first.

However, after receiving a push from her son in particular to start afresh after losing her husband and Michelle and Craig's father Fraser, she decided to do so to care for Sasha and Malia, who were only seven and 10 years old at the time.

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Given that Barack and Michelle were often tied up in political and charitable causes, it was Marian who was able to step in and provide her two young granddaughters the support they needed, and allowed them to be more grounded.

And it wasn't just them, she proved to be an equally caring grandmother to her son Craig's four children, Avery, Leslie, Austin, and Aaron.

In their official statement after Marian's passing, the siblings shared more light on her role as a grandmother. "She relished her role as a grandmother to Malia and Sasha," they wrote. "Less encumbered by the responsibilities of motherhood, she'd indulge in a little more fun and games while keeping any danger of spoiling her grandchildren safely at bay." 

"And although she enforced whatever household rules we'd set for bedtime, watching TV, or eating candy, she made clear that she sided with her 'grandbabies' in thinking that their parents were too darn strict."

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Marian attended public events often with Michelle, Barack, and their daughters, but was available for them on a more consistent basis thanks to the privacy concern being much less of a factor.

Given she didn't have to contend with the trappings of secret services compared to the rest of the family, she was often able to attend special events with Malia and Sasha, pick them up or drop them off at school, and step out with them in a more low-key manner.

Thanks to aides who carefully guarded her privacy, Marian was able to duck out of the White House for shopping trips, occasionally fly out to Portland to visit her other grandchildren, or host friends from Chicago over.

She enjoyed a sense of freedom that Michelle and Barack couldn't, and as a result, despite only planning to move to the nation's capital temporarily at first to visit with her granddaughters, she stayed there for a majority of Barack's tenure as President.

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"There were many good and valid reasons that Michelle raised with me, not the least of which was the opportunity to continue spending time with my granddaughters, Malia and Sasha, and to assist in giving them a sense of normalcy that is a priority for both of their parents, as has been from the time Barack began his political career," Marian wrote in the foreword for her son's memoir A Game of Character.

While she rarely ever gave public interviews, never to White House press, she did open up more about the process of deciding to make the move to support her grandchildren, with whom she remained close even after they left for California for college and professional pursuits, till her passing.