Michelle Obama says her daughters want to earn their achievements

Former first lady Michelle Obama revealed on Monday that her daughters have tried to “push away” from her and her husband, former President Barack Obama.

“Where do we begin?” Michelle said during an episode of Kate Hudson’s podcast “Sibling Revelry,”. “Our daughters are 26 and 23, they are young adult women. But they definitely went through a period in their teen years… it was the ‘push away.'”

She said that her daughters are trying to forge their own path and differentiate themselves from their famous parents. 

MICHELLE OBAMA URGES PARENTS NOT TO TRY TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEIR CHILDREN

“They’re still doing that, and you guys know this of children with parents who are known,” Michelle continued. “You’re trying to distinguish yourself. It’s very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world.”

The former first lady also said Sasha and Malia “don’t want people to assume they don’t work hard,” or “that they’re just naturally handed things.”

“They’re very sensitive to that,” Michelle Obama added on Hudson’s podcast, talking about how she says her daughters want to make their own way, and addressing her daughter Malia’s filmmaking.

MICHELLE OBAMA SAYS THE ‘ULTIMATE JOB’ FOR A PARENT IS TO LET KIDS FAIL AND BUILD RESILIENCE

“They want to be their own people,” Michelle said. “You know, Malia, who started in film, I mean, her first project, she took off her last name, and we were like, they’re still going to know it’s you, Malia. You know, but we respected the fact that she’s trying to make her way. But now as they’re older, I think they are embracing our parenting principles. They have a clearer understanding of why we did a lot of what we did. They understand us as full human beings.” 

Michelle said she can identify with where her daughters have been because of her own life experience. 

“You know, I was that know-it-all kid in high school,” she said. “But by the time I got to college and saw more of life, I realized, our parents are flawed. They’re our heroes. We love them. But you start seeing them as humans and start appreciating them. I think our kids are moving into that.”

“They didn’t want to be little princesses in the White House. They wanted to push the envelope. They needed some rope,” she said at one point.