Michelle Obama has opened up about her life as a parent in a rare interview. The former FLOTUS is a doting mom to grown-up children, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, who she shares with husband Barack Obama, and for eight years, they raised them in the White House.
Michelle reflected on this time in a new interview with Oprah Daily, while discussing her new book, Overcoming: A Workbook.
When asked about giving advice when it came to being able to both make a difference, but also be there for your loved ones at home, she discussed the art of planning, and how her priorities were always her daughters during their childhood.
She also admitted to her concerns about not "doing well enough as a mom," but that after time, she learnt to be kinder to herself and give herself "a little grace".
Giving a rare insight into their private lives, she said: "I'm a planner, and I've always been a planner. And that served me well as First Lady, when it felt like I had an endless list of things to do—and all those things were truly important.
© Getty Images"But I knew from the beginning that for me, being a mom was the most important thing of all. That's a helpful baseline to start from—it's critical to have a clear sense of what you want. I knew I wanted to be home as often as possible, to do dinner together, to go to as many of the girls' activities and conferences and give them as normal a life as possible.
"So, even as First Lady, I made sure that the rest of my schedule flowed around those priorities. It wasn't always perfect. I didn't make it to every school event, and I constantly worried that I wasn't doing well enough as a mom or in my other pursuits. But after a while, I learned to give myself a little grace.
"And I hope everybody out there can do the same. We're all just doing the best we can."
Michelle and Barack have always prioritised being present parents to their daughters and wanted them to feel like they had as normal lives as possible during Barack's time in office.
Their late grandmother, Marian Robinson, even moved in with the family to help raise them and keep them grounded. Michelle has been promoting her new book, which was released on December 3, over the past few weeks.
On the day of its release, she shared footage of herself talking about it on social media. She said: "My new workbook — Overcoming — is out today! And I wanted to share a few tools and techniques that have helped me stay steady throughout my life.
"Now, I've had the benefit of practicing these techniques for many years. They’re a part of how I see the world. But for many, finding ways to implement something new into our lives can be daunting.
© Jacopo M. Raule"Any kind of change is hard, particularly when we’re trying to shift the way we live our lives or the way we see ourselves and the world.
"My hope is that the Overcoming workbook helps you reimagine how you want to show up in the world. Do you have a practice that works for you? Let me know in the comments."
