Family, friends help Obamas juggle kids, campaign

[bigtree]

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008



CHICAGO -- {snip}

Like countless other working parents, the Obamas rely on a close group of friends and family - especially Michelle's 71-year-old mother - to help juggle home life and work.

The Obamas' jobs may be more high-profile than most, but those close to them say many of the everyday challenges are the same as when she worked as an administrator at a Chicago hospital and he was just another U.S. senator: shuffling the girls to play dates, piano lessons, drama, ballet and soccer games.

Michelle Obama has talked about how, like other working mothers, she feels torn.



"I can't be everything to everyone, always feeling guilty that when I'm with my kids I should be doing more on the job or for the campaign, but when I'm with the campaign that I should be with my girls. We all know that guilt," she said last month during a visit to New Mexico. She is on a leave of absence from her hospital executive job.

The Obamas' biggest help with the girls comes from Michelle's mother, Marian Robinson, who retired last year from her job as a bank executive secretary to help with her granddaughters as the presidential campaign heated up.

Michelle Obama is like an air traffic controller when it comes to organizing her daughters' activities - she puts everything in motion but Robinson and others, like Davila and family friend Kaye "Mama Kaye" Wilson, help make sure the girls get to their destinations.

"That's my responsibility, gladly," she said . . .


read more: http://www.bnd.com/living/story/501548.html

[Barack_America]

1. Wow. Michelle and her mother look like twins in that top photo.

And great article too!

Thanks!

:hi:

[ThatsMyBarack]

13. Yep.

I never would have guessed Michelle's mom was 71 yet! :loveya: :patriot:

[Eurobabe]

2. I just ADORE that last photo...

What a family we will have in the White House! :loveya:

[bigtree]

3. yep

pretty ladies



Marian Robinson, Women for Obama luncheon Monday, July, 28, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo by M. Spencer Green)

[msallied]

4. Wow! What an incredible family!

Very successful, professional, and upstanding people. Those little girls have a great foundation on which to build an amazing future. Brilliant and loving family. I always wondered how Michelle managed it all. I can relate well to that constant guilt and balance. I think she's looking forward to this whole thing being over so she can get back to some semblance of normality. At least all of them living under the same roof again.

[TTUBatfan2008]

5. LOL, normality?

Being First Lady is not what I would call normal. But I do agree with you on the point about them living under the same roof. And for the most part, when Barack travels, Michelle will be on the trip with him instead of on the other side of the country at a different campaign event or what have you. I wonder, will the girls have private schooling so that they can go with Barack and Michelle on trips? How did Bill and Hillary handle Chelsea's education during that time?

[msallied]

6. Yeah, I meant normal in the relative sense. LOL

Having to be escorted everywhere by Secret Service, etc, is definitely a game-changer. lol Chelsea went to the Sidwell Friends School, which is a Quaker private school in D.C.

[TTUBatfan2008]

7. So did she travel with Bill and Hillary overseas...

like when they would go to Europe or wherever?

EDIT: I was too young to remember this stuff, or should I say, too young to pay attention to it (born in November of '85)

[grasswire]

8. Chelsea went to India with Bill...

...and to Africa with Hillary during their time in the WH. There are terrific photos somewhere on the web. I especially like the one of Bill riding an elephant.

[msallied]

9. Now for that, I'm not sure.

There is really not too much information that's been written about her. I would tend to think she remained stateside most of the time in order to focus on her studies, but probably went on a few international engagements. She was a little older when she moved into the White House than Obama's kids will be, so I think that Michelle would probably be more of a central home figure.

[TTUBatfan2008]

10. My favorite part...

Barack Obama, for his part, calls home every night at bedtime, and he hadn't skipped a parent-teacher conference, his wife said earlier this year.

"He did miss one of Sasha's dance recitals in December and was broken up about it," she told US Weekly. "No one wants to miss 20 6-year-olds in red cowboy hats tapping to 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.'"


LOL Barack, all broken up over missing Sasha's dance recital. He's a great dad!

[bigtree]

12. seriously, who would miss that?

'these boots . . .'

[flygal]

11. How different from the team of nannies the Bushes had

I remember bush snr.'s daughter talked about never seeing her mother. I love that Michelle's mother was a secretary. They are so much more realistic than Cindy McCain.

[bigtree]

14. a very nice family

so many different types of families. Who's to say . . .?

[JuniperLea]

15. Now THIS is family values!

There is nothing like having family back you up... this is what it's all about, folks!