Michelle Obama Details Making Decisions for Herself During “Scary” Period of Her Life
Michelle Obama talked about the transition from having a team of people to make decisions for her day-to-day life with Barack Obama was president, to being able to make decisions on her own.
Michelle Obama is the commander in chief of her life.
Eight years after she and former president Barack Obama left the White House, the former First Lady got candid about one simple, but scary change, which is doing “whatever I want.”
“It’s the first time in my life what all of my choices are for me,” Michelle, 61, said on the April 9 episode of the Work in Progress with Sophia Bush podcast. “But it’s also a little scary, because as a mom and a busy person, it was somebody else’s excuse. ‘Why didn’t I do this? Why haven’t I gone there? Well, I have to make sure the girls are okay or my husband’s President so I can’t do that.”
Now, Michelle—who shares Malia Obama, 26, and Sasha Obama, 23, with the 44th president—has newfound freedom since her husband’s presidency ended in 2017 and her daughters are grown.
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“So now, I can’t blame my decisions and indecisions on anyone other than me,” she said. “If I’m honest myself, I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago. I didn’t give myself that freedom.”
And with more freedom there have been more rumors surrounding her marriage as she didn’t join her husband, 63, at two high-profile public events, former president Jimmy Carter’s January funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration two weeks later—because she’s simply said no.
“The interesting thing is that, when I say ‘no,’ for the most part people are like, ‘I get it, and I’m okay,'” Michelle, who wed the former politician in 1992, shared on podcast. “That’s the thing that we as women, we struggle with disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year people couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”
“This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?” the Light We Carry author continued. “But that’s what society does to us. We start actually, finally going, ‘What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’ And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.”
The former first couple reassured the public that all was well in their long-time love. In fact, Barack gave Michelle a sweet shout out in honor of her 61st birthday.
“Happy birthday to the love of my life,” Barack wrote in a Jan. 17 Instagram post, including a photo of the couple holding hands across a dining table. “You fill every room with warmth, wisdom, humor, and grace—and you look good doing it. I’m so lucky to be able to take on life’s adventures with you. Love you!”