Michelle Obama has spoken out about a parenting hack she and husband Barack Obama use on their daughters.
During Wednesday’s episode of IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson—a podcast she co-hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson—the former first lady said they use a tactic called “the attractive nuisance.”
Newsweek has reached out to Barack Obama‘s representative via email for comment on Thursday.
The Context
The Obamas got married on October 3, 1992, and share two children together, Malia Obama, 27, and Sasha Obama, 24.
Barack was president of the United States from 2009 until 2017.
What To Know
On IMO this week, guest Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared her “advice” for getting children to visit after moving out of the family home.
“Just make sure that after they leave, the sheets on their bed are high-quality sheets and that bed is the most comfortable bed they ever slept in in their life,” the Veep star—who is a mom to sons Henry and Charlie with husband Brad Hall—said. “They’ll always come back.”
Michelle agreed and shared that she and the former president do something similar now that their girls are older.
“Barack and I, we are all about creating what we call ‘the attractive nuisance.’ We want to, you know, make it so that you want to be back here,” the Becoming author said.
Annie Leibovitz/White House via Getty Images
“There’s that period when they leave in their early 20s, and they’re just like, ‘Bye! We’re living our lives, and we’re so happy to be sleeping on a dirty mattress and in college.’ They’re just now getting to the point where they hang around just a little, a couple of days longer, because the tub is clean and there are bath salts.”
Michelle added that they make sure to keep the fridge stocked too. “‘And there’s food we can actually eat,'” the mom of two once recalled them saying.
During a separate segment of the podcast, the attorney revealed that she turned down a “warning” from her brother Robinson when her husband was elected president.
“‘No new friends,'” Robinson remembered telling the couple, adding, however, that he “couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“The automatic feeling, which would be natural, is you got to watch who you associate with in this position,” Michelle said.
Malia and Sasha were 10 and 7 years old, respectively, when they moved into the White House, and the podcast host said she “didn’t have the luxury of saying ‘no new friends.'”
“When you’re raising your kids, you have to be a part of a bigger community that they’re in.”
What People Are Saying
In the comments underneath the podcast on YouTube, fans praised the siblings’ conversation with Louis-Dreyfus.
YouTube user @trishwinstead28 wrote: “Thanks for an enjoyable and encouraging podcast.”
@valeriewood5515 said: “This was a great interview love Julia.”
@–ag stated: “Thank you Lady Michelle, you are an inspiration.”
@michelles.1930 added: “Love this topic.”
@lanashchybria7386 chimed in: “Great conversation, thank you.”
What Happens Next
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson airs new episodes on Wednesdays on platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.