Michelle Obama has opened up about what it was like to be bringing up their kids in the White House, admitting there was one aspect of it that was ‘mighty effort’.

When you’re the former first lady and former president of the US, people might make some wide speculation about how you take care of your children.

From tutors to nannies, the assumptions of what people would believe you do to upkeep your family is sometimes accurate, and sometimes not so much.

Instead of being left wondering, Michelle has taken it into her own hands spilled all about how they balanced family life with presidential life.

Michelle Obama spoke candidly about parenting (IMO)

Talking about parenting in the White House, she shared all in an episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson on Wednesday (June 11).

She explained to legendary singer Bruce Springsteen that it was essential they leave behind their important roles and focus on being parents to their children, like any other family.

Michelle said: “And it took a mighty effort to leave the grandeur at the door and to just be there and talk about fifth grade.”

However, she praised her husband for being able to leave it behind and continue to show up for their girls, regardless of the fact that he was running an entire nation.

Michelle shared: “I think Barack is just like you as a tremendous father, doing it in a lot of grandeur, right.

The pair’s daughters grew up in the White House (SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

“Yeah, you’re the commander in chief of the United States of America. And so finding that balance of, you know, when you’ve got the nuclear code in your grasp and world leaders calling you and big, important, heavy decisions coming at you every day and valets and aides and on and on, and security, and oh, it’s just all grandeur.”

She added that it was ‘important’ both of them were there for Sasha, 24, and Malia, 26.

“Trying to wipe all that stuff away and leave it at the door before he would enter the residence of the White House to sit at a dinner table with his two daughters and only talk about them.

“It was important for both of us, for me and Barack, to carve out that time in those eight years when our girls were in their formative years, you know,” Michelle added.

However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t without its sacrifices and issues.

Michelle and Barack have a method to parenting (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Springsteen agreed with her, sharing that when you’re on the road and touring, ‘you are the king’.

But when you go back home to your family, ‘you’re the chauffeur’.

He explained to Michelle of the contrast in roles: “You know, making that transition can be funny, and everybody has some version of that, that you need to transition into your domestic life and to be able to transition into their domestic life, and to understand who you are there and to identify.”

Michelle has been very open about her relationship with the former president since creating her podcast, having even shut down rumors that the pair were divorcing, and also making light-hearted jokes at his expense.

Michelle Obama addressed the ongoing divorce rumors that have been circulating and let loose about how she feels.

Former first lady Michelle Obama and her husband former US president Barack Obama have often been dubbed ‘relationship goals’ due to both being successful in their careers and appearing to show adoration for one another often.

However, in recent weeks, rumors have begun to swirl on social media that the pair’s marriage is in trouble.

The pair have been candid about previous difficulties in their relationship, but neither have spoken about a possible separation.

Barack has previously stated that the family moving into the highest office in the land put a strain on their marriage, but one can imagine being president is a stressful role.

In a new interview Michelle dismissed the rumors and joked about how she would really behave if their relationship was on the rocks.

Michelle Obama joked about how she would react if her relationship was struggling (Diary of a CEO)

Speaking to Steven Bartlett during his podcast, she said: “You know me now well enough, Steven, if I was having problems with my husband everyone would know about it.”

Pointing at her brother, who joined her on the show, she added that he would know about it and continued to joke about the situation.

She added: “I’m not a martyr, I would be problem solving in public and be like ‘let me tell you what he did’.”

Michelle went on to acknowledge that marriage can be hard, but said she wouldn’t trade it for anything, insisting that Barack was ‘her person’.

She also raised points about the false images people have with marriage, including about hers to Barack. She also noted that people can often give up on marriage too easily.

Michelle Obama also spoke about the difficulties of marriage (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

She said: “The beauty of my husband and our partnership is that neither one of us was ever really, ever going to quit at it, because that’s not who we are. And I know that about him. He knows that about me.

“I talk about these things because I think that people give up too quickly on marriage.

“Because there is so much friction built into the equation. And if you’re not getting help, talking about it, going to therapy, just understanding how things are changing, and how do you continuously renegotiate your relationship with your partner, I just see people quitting.

“Because they look at me and Barack and go ‘#couplegoals’. And I’m like, it’s hard. It’s hard for us too. But I wouldn’t trade it.”

Michelle Obama has finally opened up on her reasoning for not attending Donald Trump’s inauguration back in January, as she admitted people jumped to divorce rumors as a result.

The former first lady has a new podcast that she launched in March this year, and has had the likes of Seth Rogen, Tracee Ellis Ross and more as guests. And in her latest episode featuring Benjamin Button actor Teraji P. Henson, Michelle addressed her decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20, while her husband, Barack Obama, did.

This comes amid rumours that she and Barack may be getting a divorce, which have been fuelled since the beginning of the year when there were several political public appearances, including Trump’s inauguration, which saw former president Barack attend without his wife.

Divorce rumours began at the start of the year ((Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) )

At the time when the announcement was made that Michelle wouldn’t be attending the inauguration with her husband, the Obamas’ office released a statement reading: “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration” without further explanation.”

This marked an unusual break from tradition, as previous presidents usually attend inaugurations alongside their partners.

However, Michelle explained further the reason for this in her latest podcast episode, which was on the theme of burnout and boundaries.

She described her decision not to attend the ceremony as an act of self-care she is currently practicing: “I’m at this stage in life where I have to define my life on my terms for the first time. So what are those terms, and going to therapy just to work all that out?”

Michelle Obama says she chose peace over attending Trump’s second inauguration (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

She continued: “And so practising no in a very different way intentionally. But then this is what makes it hard because… my decision to skip the inauguration… what people don’t realise… my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism.”

Addressing the rumours directly, she said: “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason than they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart… while I’m here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me.

“And it took everything in my power to not do the thing that was right or that was perceived as right, but do the thing that was right for me”.

Michelle has previously expressed her distaste for Trump as she has described him as ‘a convicted felon, a known slumlord’ and a ‘predator found liable for sexual abuse’.

Although she has previously attended Trump’s first inauguration in 2020, she said: “To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage, there was no reflection of the broader sense of America”.

The former First Lady of the US has opened up about how ‘people couldn’t even fathom’ she was ‘making a choice’ for herself, and so they assumed she must be divorcing Barack Obama.

Ah, the joys of social media – whose rumor mill most recently has been spinning away with whispers that the Obamas’ marriage is on the brink.

Michelle and Barack tied the knot in 1992 and granted, Barack has opened up about how the move into the White House in 2009 until 2017 certainly put a strain on the pair’s marriage, however, does this mean they’re considering parting ways anytime soon?

Well, Michelle opened up about her relationship and how her life has changed since stepping away from the position of First Lady of the US in an episode of Sophia Bush’s iHeart Radio podcast Work in Progress, which first aired yesterday (April 8).

The 61-year-old reflected since leaving the White House, for ‘the first time’ in her life, ‘all’ of her ‘choices’ are for herself.

Michelle admitted she’s learnt not to ‘blame [her] decisions and indecisions on anyone other than’ herself, previously having used the excuse of her daughters or husband being President to avoid making a call on something.

She continued: “I think if I’m honest with myself, I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago. But I didn’t give myself that freedom.”

However, she attributes this to a wider issue too, acknowledging how women often ‘struggle with disappointing people,’ revealing divorce rumors arose when people started seeing her ‘making a choice for [herself] and people being unable to ‘even fathom’ that.

“They had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” she added. “This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right?”

Just because a woman seems more ‘free’ doesn’t mean she’s going through a divorce, okay? (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Michelle pointed out ‘that’s what society does to us’; making people question who they are, what they’re doing, and what they’re doing it 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,” she continued.

Michelle’s comments follow Barack similarly reflecting on their marriage and how it’s changed over the years – particularly post White House – to College President Steven Tepper.

The former president of the US admitted he was ‘in a deep deficit’ with Michelle and has been ‘trying to dig [himself] out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things’.