The famous siblings lives in the iconic building for eight years, and during that time, their parents made sure their lives were as normal as possible, with everything from school trips to playdates still on the cards.
“Even as Barack being the President of the United States, he worked his schedule around their schedule. They weren’t waiting until 9pm to eat because dad was running late.
“They never couldn’t not go somewhere or do something because of dad. I never wanted them to resent the presidency, or resent what their dad did,” Michelle said during a conversation with her mother and brother on The Michelle Obama podcast.
What’s more, Michelle’s mum, Marian Robinson, moved in with the family during these years to help raise Malia and Sasha, and Barack recently praised her for helping his daughters remain grounded.
“Marian didn’t understand all the fuss. She was great to have around with the girls,” the former President said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
He added: “Maybe one of my greatest successes, Michelle’s greatest successes, in those eight years was raising these great girls, who don’t have an attitude, don’t feel entitled.
“But part of it is because of my mother-in-law. If she saw them acting bratty, she’s say ‘You guys haven’t done anything. Why are you acting special? You’re just here for the ride.’ And they’d suddenly go, ‘You’re right, Grandma,'” he continued. “She was a huge blessing.”
During a very rare public appearance on her daughter’s podcast, Marian opened up about her granddaughters’ childhood.
She said: “I think the girls did really well with what they had to deal with. They pretty much just went about their schoolwork as just a normal child, even though the Secret Service was standing outside their door.”
Marian often attended public events with the family, and has an incredibly close relationship with her grandchildren.
Michelle previously revealed during an interview on the Today Show with Jenna Bush Hager that she struck a deal with the press so that her children wouldn’t be followed around by photographers during Barack’s presidency.