Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she was not her children’s friend in a new podcast conversation with Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, arguing too many parents try to befriend their kids.
“My kids say that this is the phrase they hate for me to say: ‘I’m not one of your little friends,’” Obama said during a live episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, posted Friday.
“And so many people are trying to be their kids’ friends, and they think that that makes you closer,” Obama said. “But let me tell you, I was not my children’s friend. I love them deeply. There was respect. And, you know, for those of you trying to be friends with your kids, our kids love us just as much as adults. In fact, the relationship, I think, is even closer because now they’ve earned my friendship. Now we can be friends. Now, maybe you know something.”
Michelle and Barack Obama have two daughters, Malia and Sasha, who were just 10 and 7 years old, respectively, when they entered the White House in 2008.
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In another May episode of her podcast, the former first lady said she grew up thankful, but that kids today are significantly less so.
“When I think about what our parents did or didn’t do, and maybe it’s a little bit different because we’re brother-sister, because that same gender dynamic may make it a little bit hard,” Obama said in an earlier episode of her podcast, which she co-hosts with her brother.
“But I know we got along for some of the same reasons,” Obama said. “Our parents worked hard enough without us fighting and causing havoc. We knew our parents were working as hard as they could. We knew that they were giving us as much as they could. I guess we grew up grateful.”
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She added that kids today should be more appreciative of what they have.
“Perhaps sometimes in this generation, where kids have, I think, too much, parents are giving kids a lot of stuff, and they’re not giving them some guidance,” Obama said.
During Friday’s episode, Obama asked Beyoncé’s mother for advice on how to raise multiple children.
“I think, you know, one of the things is, is just that when somebody asked me, what’s the best advice I can give to them, it is always that if you have more than one child, to see that child for who they are, to try to find out what, you know, what makes their clock tick or whatever. What excites them? What are their best qualities? And not compare,” Knowles said.
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