President Barack Obama might be the Leader of the Free World, but that does not mean he is immune to the worries of everyday parents.
During a live 30-minute sit-down interview with MTV News, Obama talked about his role as "dad" as part of MTV's Power of 12 campaign coverage. MTV News reporter Sway Calloway broached the subject of parenting when he asked Obama whether he is more worried about his eldest daughter Malia dating, driving or going on Facebook.
"I'd worry about Facebook right now," Obama said of his daughter Malia joining the social network, according to Yahoo! News. "I know the folks at Facebook obviously they've revolutionized, you know, the social networks. But Malia, because she's well known, I'm very keen on her protecting her privacy."
"She can make her own decisions obviously later as she gets older, but right now, even just for security reasons, she doesn't have a Facebook page. Dates, that's fine, 'cause she's got Secret Service protection," he added smiling, saying that he hopes his girls will choose to date "boys who respect them and value them and understand their worth." As for getting behind the wheel, "Driver's license, that always worries a parent. But you know, sooner or later they've got to leave the nest, so we'll have to figure out how she gets the license."
The Obama children are refreshingly normal. Malia, now 14, plays tennis, has a cell phone and must learn to do laundry before she leaves for college, according to the New York Times. Sasha, 11, can already chat in Mandarin.
Barack and Michelle Obama's family values and parenting skills are lauded by mothers and fathers around the world. “The [Obama] family seems so utterly normal, the type of people who could be at the soccer game or basketball game,” Steve Schmidt, who managed Senator John McCain’s 2008 bid for president, previously told the NY Times.
As typical adolescents, Sasha and Malia do sometimes still need to be reminded of good behavior by their parents.
The First Lady stopped by "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and discussed parenting daughters in the White House. She said she and Barack tell their daughters "just look like you're listening" when their father delivers a speech.
“That was the instruction before he gave his speech at the DNC,” she told Kimmel on Thursday. "We’re backstage and they’re playing around and they’re laughing and they’re giggling and he said, ‘Just act like you’re listening to me!’”