In her memoir Becoming, Michelle Obama shared a personal, light-hearted story about a memorable family moment—her daughter Malia’s prom night in the spring of 2015. As Malia prepared for the big event, attending prom at Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, D.C., she made a simple yet important request to her parents: “Just be cool, please.”
Michelle recounted how the evening unfolded. Malia’s prom date arrived at the White House, navigating the tight security protocols usually reserved for heads of state. He bravely made his way to the Diplomatic Reception Room, dressed in a black suit, greeted by Michelle, who was barefoot, and Barack Obama, who was wearing flip-flops. As president at the time, Barack’s security team had to follow Malia and her date, tailing them closely on their way to the restaurant.
Despite their efforts to “be cool,” the evening still carried its share of awkwardness, with Malia clearly embarrassed by her parents. Michelle reflected, “By my reckoning, we did manage to play it cool, though Malia still laughs, remembering it all as a bit excruciating.”
This wasn’t the only time the Obama daughters felt discomfort with their famous parents. Michelle has mentioned before how both Malia and her younger sister, Sasha, often felt their parents were far from ‘cool.’ In an interview with CBS, Michelle revealed that her daughters found their parents’ public appearances, especially at school events, embarrassing. The sight of Barack’s motorcade pulling up for a parent-teacher conference was enough to make Malia cringe, she once told her mother.
Adding to their list of parental faux pas, the girls preferred regular public theatres over the White House’s private cinema. As Michelle humorously noted, like many kids their age, Malia and Sasha were eager to avoid anything that made their parents seem uncool.
