Now that they’ve exhausted the puppy issue, the media has suddenly become obsessed with the prospect of Michelle Obama’s mother becoming the First Grandmother and moving into the White House with the rest of the family come January.
Granny’s in the hoooooouse!
According to news reports, after some prodding, Michelle convinced her 71-year-old mother Marian Robinson to leave her home on the South Side of Chicago and move to Washington, D.C. with the rest of the Obama’s. Initial reports had the Obama’s looking for new digs for Robinson near the White House, but now some media outlets are reporting that Grandma Robinson will be getting her own quarters in the historic landmark. If Robinson doesn’t change her mind, and does in fact moves into the White House, it will reportedly be the first time in history that three generations of a president’s family will be sharing living space in the famous abode.
According to reports, the decision to move was extremely tough for Robinson. Obama’s mother has reportedly lived in her South Side Chicago home for decades and by all accounts is a fiercely independent woman with a rich and busy life.
One paper reported that Robinson initially told her daughter she couldn’t make the move because “there wasn’t enough space” and said she “didn’t want to intrude” (hardly an issue given the White House has 132 rooms).
However, Obama’s two young daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 reportedly dote on their grandma (Robinson was their primary caretaker while Barack and Michelle were on the campaign trail) and some say Robinson was compelled to make the move to Washington to help ensure her granddaughters would be able to smoothly transition from life in relative obscurity to the bright lights of media saturated D.C.
Michelle Obama has made it no secret that her first priority is caring for her daughters. But as she takes on the title of First Lady she knows that there will be times when she won’t be around to pick up her children from school or tuck them in at night. That’s where her mom comes in. Both President-elect Barack Obama and Michelle have publicly stated that they doubt they could have sustained their rigorous campaign schedule if it were not for the fact that Robinson was at home in Chicago keeping life consistent for Malia and Sasha.
Newsweek recently published an article in which Michelle claims she “begged” her mother to move to Washington with the family.
“The girls are going to need her, as part of their sense of stability,” Michelle Obama told Newsweek. “And what is true for my mom is that she does anything for us and her grandkids. All they have to do is look at her with sad eyes and she’s done for.”
So as it stands now, Grandma Robinson is headed for the White House and despite the flurry of mother-in-law-living-under-the–same-roof jokes that are already flying in cyberspace, I’m sure President-elect Obama wouldn’t want it any other way.
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