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Obama kids will live ordinary life in extraordinary location

Categories: Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Celeb kids, Life & style, Celeb parenting, In the news, Media, Extreme childhood

Obama kidsMedia scrutiny of the Obama family was unrelenting during the recent presidential campaign, and now that the First Family is preparing for life in the White House, the glare is sure to intensify. With two young children in the equation, it's hard to imagine what it will be like for these presidential parents to cope with that kind of attention.

But Michelle Obama pledges to keep life as normal as possible for her two girls, Mailia, 10, and Sasha, 7. In fact, during the campaign, the kids spent a lot of time in their maternal grandmother's South Side Chicago apartment, and often could be found in the backyards of pals jumping rope and listening to their iPods.

Sounds pretty ordinary to me. What is extraordinary, however, is that this "happy family" will soon be ensconced in the nation's most recognizable address. Playdates, sleep-overs and visits with grandma will be the order of the day, despite the fact that they will take place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

It's been decades since Americans saw such young children in the White House. Amy Carter was nine years old when her dad, Jimmy, was inagurated, and she was the subject of an awful lot of media attention, good and bad. As the youngest child to live in the president's mansion since the Kennedy kids, she bore the burden of following after John-John and Caroline.

First Kids(click thumbnails to view gallery)

Chelsea, all grown upThe ClintonsThe Carter FamilyAmy Carter wedsThe Camelot Years


While we know the kids will be getting a new puppy, my gut feeling is that their lives will remain as grounded as they were back in their Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago. I, for one, am energized by the sight of this young family leading our nation. No matter what your political affiliations, you can't help but smile at the love that comes off of them in waves.

I can only hope the media minds its manners and keeps the spotlght off these two innocent little girls.

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