Michelle Obama's Surprising Reaction to Her Daughters Leaving Home

Former first lady Michelle Obama is opening up about life after her two daughters have left the proverbial nest. “I don’t miss ‘em,” Obama, 60, quipped on the Wednesday, August 26, episode of her “IMO” podcast after guest Jon Stewart asked how she handled daughters Malia, 28, and Sasha, 25, going to college. “I don’t; I love them. I’m going to see them tonight for dinner.” She continued, “You know, Barack [Obama] cried when they went to college. I was like, ‘Bye little … Goodbye.’ Now, Friday nights aren't wrecked with terror and fear about, ‘Where are you?’” Michelle further gushed that she has loved her daughters’ “emancipation and growth” since the pair have left their childhood home. When Stewart, 63, asked whether the Becoming author missed the “pattern” of raising kids, she shook her head no.

“I’m good, look at all this meaning I have,” Michelle quipped, gesturing to her podcast studio and life after mothering young and later teen children. “I have a wonderful pattern. I love my schedule; I have a great schedule and it’s all mine.” However, Michelle can understand how Stewart and her brother, podcast cohost Craig Robinson, can wax nostalgic for their kids’ younger years. “I think fathers can be that way because you weren't there from 6:00 to 9:00 at night, you missed a lot of it,” she stated. “I mean, I've had so much quality time with my children. So much; I know them inside and out.” Malia and Sasha were by Michelle and former senator Barack’s side when he ran and was elected president of the United States. (Barack, 65, served as the Commander in Chief from 2009 to 2017.) While Barack pursued his political career, it was often up to Michelle to handle their kids’ day-to-day.

“They were probably 7 and 3 at the time, and Barack was traveling, so I was at home trying to get the girls to bed,” the former attorney said on a December 2025 episode of her podcast. “They were great kids, but this was one night that they were just being rambunctious.” According to Michelle, neither of her girls would listen when she asked them to get ready for bedtime that night. “I was in my frustrated mommy time,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Well, that’s it. No one listens to me. I’m done parenting. You seem like you guys have this all figured out, and you can do this on your own. So have at it.’” Malia, then 7, quickly changed course and stressed that she didn’t “know what [she] could do without” her mom. “I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, this is what I wanted. I wanted her to realize that she needed me,’” Michelle added at the time. “Sasha, my 3-year-old was sitting on the stairs watching all this. She took her blankie, and she turned around and went back upstairs to watch TV. As if to say, like, ‘Thank God. At last. This is what I wanted from you, lady. I am 3. I can handle this. I’m going back upstairs.’ She got five steps up, and I was like, ‘If you don’t turn around and get back down here.’ Well, it worked for one. Didn’t work for the other.”