Sen. Barack Obama, who squeezed some family fun between campaign stops, kicked a soccer ball to his 10-year-old daughter Malia and, with a wink to a reporter on the sidelines, confides one of his wife Michelle’s secret talents: “She is the best Hula-Hooper I know. Once she gets the rhythm going, she can drop to her knees!”
And what about the Democratic presidential nominee? “That is one thing you will never see – me Hula-Hooping. I think that’s clear.”
Obama’s family is a brood almost like any other even on the campaign trail, with set routines (chores!), boundaries ($1 allowance!) and playtimes (movie nights!).
The presidential candidate revealed in his interview about his family’s three-story home in Chicago in June, and again on July 4, at a park in Butte, Mont., where the family campaigned and celebrated Malia’s birthday – about the task of raising two girls, including 7-year-old Sasha, under the public eye.
Here is the short preview of his interview:
When asked that he did not do birthday presents, the presidential candidate’s wife Michelle replied, “No, because we spend hundreds of dollars on a birthday party and movie tickets and pizza and popcorn …”
Barack Obama quipped: “That sleepover is enough. We want to teach some limits to them. And their friends bring over presents.”
His wife Michelle laughingly added: “They get so much stuff that it just becomes numbing. Malia believes there is still a Santa Claus even though she’s a little wary because some of her friends are non-believers. But Malia says, “Ma, I know there is a Santa because there’s no way you’d buy me all that stuff.”
About the slumber party at the Barack Obama house look like, the presidential candidate revealed: “They’re pretty noisy.”
Michelle continued: “The older they get, they just talk a lot. But they’re at the age where they’re pretty self-sufficient. [For Malia’s birthday] we’re going to go swimming, see Wall-E, make pizzas, have sundaes. “
Barack Obama also revealed: “I usually go for the swim but this time I want to go to the movie just because Wall-E has gotten great reviews. I find actually that children’s movies are the best movies these days. But I’ll probably, after that, peel off until the cake.”
Michelle laughingly added: “Peel off.”
If the presidential candidate was giving allowance to the girls, Michelle laughingly shared: “Sorta, kinda.”
Barack Obama replied: “I’m out of town all the time, so Malia will say, “Hey, you owe me 10 weeks!” … Originally, we were giving her a dollar a week as long as she did all her chores. It turns out that she’s been doing her chores even without prompting from the allowance, which makes me feel guilty that she’s been carrying on her end of the bargain and I haven’t been as consistent. “
On the type of chores, the presidential candidate answered: “Setting the table, rinsing the dishes.” His wife Michelle continued: “They have to clean up their half of the third floor where they play. They have a closet of toys they have to clean up. They have to practice their piano every day. “
On the discipline that existed inside their houses, Barack Obama revealed: “Mommy raising her voice.”
Michelle said: “It’s usually a lecture. It’s a lot of conversation. Or it’s separating them. Or it’s saying if you guys can’t decide nicely what program to watch, then you don’t get to watch anything. It’s sort of pulling away a privilege. But in all honesty, we don’t have to discipline –“
Barack Obama answered: “If you ask them to do something, they’re like any other kid …”
Michelle revealed: “They’ll whine a little bit.”
Barack Obama added: “They’ll test boundaries. But if you say, “Guys, this is what we need to do …”
Michelle shared: “An example of this is one night I was going out, I had to do a fund-raiser, and I told Malia, “You guys really need to have an early bedtime because you’ve got to get up tomorrow and have a busy day.” So my mom was there, and my mom doesn’t adhere to bedtime. She’s kinda, “Well, maybe you wanna start taking your bath…” But that night, she said she sat down to watch TV with them and they both got up, turned off the TV and left. And my mom was like, “Where are you going?” And they said, “We have got to go to bed early today, Grandma.” And they went downstairs, took their baths and went to bed, and my mom was just stunned”
When asked about his division of labor at home between the two of you in normal times, Barack replied: “I was doing the checkbook, the house and car repairs, the grocery shopping.”
Michelle reminded him, saying: “That was a long time ago.”
Barack Obama answered: “ I would sometimes do the laundry – although not fold, I have to confess.”
Michelle added: “Which is really pretty useless.”
Barack Obama also revealed: “But clean clothes, that’s something. … I mean, look, I gotta be honest. For the last 17 months I’ve been on the road 98 percent of the time.”
Michelle added: “His job is to be there when requested. Right now, it’s important for him to be at parent-teacher conferences, piano recitals, things that are important to the girls. It’s less the household stuff because the household works; it’s more being there for them, which he has done an outstanding job at. There are few things that he’s missed that were important to them.”