Michelle Obama reveals concerns about not ‘doing well enough as a mom’ while raising Malia and Sasha

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a candid conversation, former first lady Michelle Obama shared her personal struggles and concerns about motherhood, revealing her feelings about not "doing well enough" while raising her two daughters, Malia Obama, 26 and Sasha Obama, 23.

The mother of two, who has consistently shared the struggles of juggling her public duties with family life, recently spoke about her experiences in an interview with Oprah Daily, in the context of her new book, 'Overcoming: A Workbook'.

Michelle Obama reflects on balancing family life and public duty

When inquired about balancing between making a difference and being present for her family, Michelle Obama said, "By no means is this an easy balance for me. You’re right that it does at times feel like a zero-sum game—you can physically only be in one place at one time."

But she emphasized the importance of planning. "I’m a planner, and I’ve always been a planner. And that served me well as First Lady, when it felt like I had an endless list of things to do—and all those things were truly important," said Obama.

She also acknowledged her worries about not "doing well enough as a mom", but over time, she learned to be more compassionate toward herself and to grant herself "a little grace".

"But I knew from the beginning that for me, being a mom was the most important thing of all. That's a helpful baseline to start from—it's critical to have a clear sense of what you want," she said.

"I knew I wanted to be home as often as possible, to do dinner together, to go to as many of the girls' activities and conferences and give them as normal a life as possible," the former first lady added.

"So, even as First Lady, I made sure that the rest of my schedule flowed around those priorities."

The mother of two concluded, "It wasn't always perfect. I didn't make it to every school event, and I constantly worried that I wasn't doing well enough as a mom or in my other pursuits. But after a while, I learned to give myself a little grace. And I hope everybody out there can do the same. We're all just doing the best we can."

Michelle Obama promotes new book 'Overcoming: A Workbook'

Michelle and Barack Obama have consistently made it a priority to be actively involved parents to their daughters, striving to ensure they experienced as normal a life as possible throughout Barack's presidency, Hello! reported.

Michelle's late mother, Marian Robinson, moved in with the family to assist in raising Malia and Sasha and keeping them grounded. Michelle has been promoting her new book 'Overcoming: A Workbook', released on December 3, throughout the past few weeks.

She posted a video of herself discussing the release on social media on the same day it was launched. She said, "My new workbook — 'Overcoming' — is out today! And I wanted to share a few tools and techniques that have helped me stay steady throughout my life."

"Now, I've had the benefit of practicing these techniques for many years. They’re a part of how I see the world. But for many, finding ways to implement something new into our lives can be daunting," she continued.

She remarked, "Any kind of change is hard, particularly when we’re trying to shift the way we live our lives or the way we see ourselves and the world. My hope is that the 'Overcoming Workbook' helps you reimagine how you want to show up in the world. Do you have a practice that works for you? Let me know in the comments."