During her April 29 appearance on Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa on SiriusXM, the former First Lady opened up about what she called the “nightmare” of trying to allow her daughters typical teenage experiences without having their private moments splashed across the tabloids.
“[It] was a lot of work and it got harder as they got older,” Michelle shared. She explained how much she wanted her girls to experience the freedoms that come with adolescence—but the constant media attention made that extremely difficult.
“They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things,” Michelle explained. “And every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six.”
Life under the ever-watchful eye of the Secret Service made even everyday childhood experiences feel like a production. “When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal,” she said. “Imagine setting up the first play date or the first time the kids get invited to a play date. The process of having my children at your house meant that an advanced team had to come and question and search your house and ask if you had drugs and guns.”
Michelle’s priority throughout those years was helping her daughters build a sense of normal identity in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. “I’m trying to make this feel normal to them, because you don’t want them to start thinking, number one, they’re full of themselves, that any of this is about them and that their job is to go about their lives,” she said. “This world is not about you. This is just your dad’s job.”