Former First Lady Michelle Obama revealed that she “couldn’t stand” her husband, former President Barack Obama, for an entire decade, while she raised their little “terrorists” during his political ascension.
Michelle Obama appeared on a “cross-generational conversation” with a panel of women on Sean “Diddy” Combs REVOLT, to promote her new book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.
Obama discussed the “give and take” of relationships with the five women, who included musicians HER and Kelly Rowland, supermodel Winnie Harlow, businesswoman Tina Knowles-Lawson, and moderator Angie Martinez.
The former First Lady said that she sees young couples “giving up to fast,” because they’re not willing to work through difficult periods when life and children cause stress.
âWe donât talk about how much work is required and how hard it is even when you are madly in love with the person, even when everything works out right,â she explained.
Obama noted that “bringing two lives together” is “one of the hardest things to do,” and is a process.
âPeople think Iâm being catty by saying this,” she added.
“Itâs like, there were 10 years where I couldnât stand my husband. And guess when it happened? When those kids were little.â
Obama detailed how early in their marriage, she didn’t care about how much the former president traveled, went to the gym, or golfed, until their little “terrorists” were born.
“Little kids, they’re terrorists… They are. They have demands. They don’t talk. They’re poor communicators. They cry all the time,” she said about daughters Malia and Sasha.
“They’re irrational. They’re needy. And you love them more then anything,” she continued.
“And so you can’t blame them, right? So you turn that ire on each other.”
She described how while they were both building their careers during the first ten years of their daughters lives, now 24 and 21, the parental responsibilities weren’t split evenly between them.
“And guess what? Marriage isn’t 50/50, ever. Ever,” Obama went on.
“There are times I’m 70, he’s 30. There are times he’s 60, 40. But guess what? Ten years, we’ve been married 30.”
“I would take 10 bad years over 30… It’s just how you look at it. People give up. ‘Five years; I can’t take it’.”
She told the panel that after years of marriage “feelings are going to change over time.”
“You’ve got to know your person, do you like him? I mean, you can be mad at him, but do you still look at him and go – ‘I’m not happy with you, but I respect you. I don’t agree with you, but you’re still a kind, smart person.'”
The former First Lady made headlines in November when she said that Americans were “not ready” for her to wear her hair in braids while her husband was the Commander-in- Chief.
âI didnât wear braids,â she told Ellen DeGeneres at a promotional event for her book in November.
âI was like, âTheyâre just getting adjusted [to a Black president in the White House]. It would be easier. But theyâre not ready for it,’â she commented.
Obama claimed that she straightened her hair to appease white Americans.
âIt would have been âremember when she wore braids? Those are terrorist braids. Those are revolutionary braids,’â she speculated.
âSo let me just keep my hair straight, letâs get healthcare passed.â
âWe deal with it â the whole thing about, âDo you show up with your natural hair?â Thatâs the African-American experience.â
She cited the former President’s 2014 tan suit controversy, when Obama rocked a light suit to a press conference about the military’s response to ISIS activity ins Syria, to convey her point.
âThey tripped out when Barack wore a tan suit,â she exclaimed. âThe great indignity, the scandal of the Obama administration.â