Michelle Obama shares the most important life advice she’s given Malia and Sasha

Growing up in front of the whole world can’t have been easy for Malia and Sasha Obama, who were just ten and seven, respectively, when their father, Barack Obama, became the US president for the first time in 2009.

Their mother, Michelle Obama, revealed that during the family’s time in the White House, she learned to lean on her closest friends for support, which is something that she hopes Malia and Sasha will do as they find their feet. The former First Lady sat down on the Call Her Daddy podcast and shared how she was passing this lesson down to the pair.

“The value of cultivating friendships is important – it’s as important as the degree that you got in college, it’s as important as the job title and the salary or the dude you’re trying to catch or the length of your veil on your wedding dress,” she said on the show. “All that stuff comes and goes.”

Michelle added that she hoped Malia and Sasha would never close themselves off to meeting new people and cultivating friendships despite their wish for privacy.

“You’ve got to be smart and selective about who you let in,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to make friends, be open, stay open…We’re all going up this mountain together.”

Michelle previously revealed how difficult it had been to plan a simple play date for Malia or Sasha when they lived in the White House, due to security concerns.

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“It took a lot of intentionality,” Michelle shared on Sirius XM’s Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa. “Mothering my children…that was really my first priority, especially when we first moved in [to the White House].”

Learn more about Michelle’s bond with Malia and Sasha below…

“I’m gonna focus on making sure that they get settled. I’m gonna spend a lot of time making sure that their lives are normal,” she continued. “When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal. Imagine setting up the first play date with the first time the kids get invited to a play date.”

“As these 10 and 11-year-olds are playing in your backyard, and to figure out a way to do that with humor, so you’re not scaring off friends. That takes some work,” Michelle explained. “So that meant that I had to put myself out there. I had to go to school. I had to be a parent, I had to meet other mom friends.”

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The 62-year-old shared insight into the tedious process of organizing these playdates with other families, as she tried to maintain a sense of normalcy for the girls. “Imagine having Malia and Sasha come to your house for a sleepover,” she told CBS. “It’s like, ‘Hello. Okay, we’re going to need your Social Security number, we’re going to need your date of birth.'”

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She continued: “‘There are going to be men coming to sweep your house. If you have guns and drugs, just tell them yes because they are going to find them anyway. Don’t lie. They’re not going to take them; they just need to know where they are. And, uh, thank you for having Malia and Sasha over. Oh, and by the way, there is going to be a man with a gun sitting outside all night. If you let him use the bathroom, that would be nice.'”

Her daughters have since moved to Los Angeles together, with Malia establishing herself as a filmmaker and making her directorial debut with 2024’s The Heart, while Sasha graduated with a degree in sociology from the University of Southern California in 2023 and is pursuing further education.