Michelle Obama is “so glad” that she never had a boy — even though her podcast guest, Angie Martinez, thinks she would’ve made a great boy mom. On a recent episode of her IMO podcast, which she cohosts alongside her brother Craig Robinson, Michelle shared her philosophy on raising boys to be great men. The former first lady’s advice was so inspiring that Angie told her she should’ve “[thrown] a boy in the mix.” But Michelle, who is happy to be mom to daughters Malia and Sasha, disagreed.
Michelle talked about how to raise resilient kids.
During the episode, Michelle, Angie, and Craig responded to a mom who was concerned about her son being exposed to toxic masculinity. During the conversation, Michelle explained that parents have to raise their sons so they’re equipped to handle life’s inevitable challenges. She encouraged parents to prepare their kids for “the world that they will enter” rather than “the world that mom hopes they will have.”
Parents should “coach and advise” and allow their kids to make mistakes, Michelle added. “Please, mothers, please, make these men ready,” Michelle said. “Get them ready for hurt and disappointment.”
Michelle said parents should love their boys — but also raise them to be men.
Though Michelle never had boys of her own, she offered some valuable advice for other parents. “People say mothers raise their girls and love their sons. And I say, love your son but raise them, too,” she said. “Raise him to be as strong as you know he’s going to have to be.”
According to Michelle, this goes beyond teaching him basic life skills that will help him navigate life as an adult. It’s also about helping him be emotionally equipped for adulthood.
“Teach him how to deal with the traffic stop but also teach him how to communicate in a marriage and be a listening father and to be a compassionate neighbor and be a voting citizen,” she continued. “Somebody who’s gonna pay attention and care about something outside of himself.”
Michelle is glad she didn’t have ‘a Barack Obama.’
After Michelle shared her advice, Angie said Michelle should’ve had a boy at some point. However, Michelle said she’s “so glad” she didn’t “because he would have been a Barack Obama.”
Angie didn’t see a problem with that. “Oh my, a baby Barack? That would have been amazing!” she responded. Michelle said, “No, I would have felt for him.”
Though she never had boys of her own, her brother Craig said she simply “borrowed our boys.”
