Obama daughters adjust to glare of spotlight

Growing up in the White House is anything but normal — not when a child can meet Miley Cyrus one day and the Queen of England the next. So how do President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama keep first kids Malia and Sasha grounded?

“You remember, the job of their father is to be the president,” psychiatrist Dr. Janet Taylor told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Thursday in New York. “Their job is to be students and to be happy.”

Taylor was just back from Washington, where she had attended Tuesday’s inauguration. She said that based on how Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, behaved during the ceremonies, they’re off to a good start.

“When you saw them walk down those steps, they looked like they were having fun. They were confident, they were poised, they were respectful,” she said. “I think they will carry that with them through school and through their time in the White House.”

Back to school
After three days off, during which their father started his new job and they moved into their new home for at least the next four years, Malia and Sasha reportedly returned to the Sidwell Friends School, where they have already been attending classes, on Thursday.

But, Vieira pointed out, even going to school is anything but normal for Sasha and Malia. The girls ride in a motorcade instead of a bus, and are accompanied by Secret Service agents.

“Their mom wants normalcy,” Vieira told Taylor. “But can they have it?”

“They will have normalcy in their private life, which is the most important, and that’s the consistency of bedtime and dinnertime and chore time,” the psychiatrist replied.

Taylor pointed out that Malia and Sasha aren’t jumping into their new life cold. For the past two years, while their father was campaigning for president, they’ve been exposed to the publicity and the spotlight that comes with the job.

TODAY Psychiatrist Dr. Janet Taylor advised the president and first lady to limit their daughters’ access to media reports about themselves.

“If you think about it, they’ve really been preparing for this for the last two years,” Taylor told Vieira. “The most important words that they’re going to hear are going to come from their mother and father. That’s what they’re going to have to pay attention to.”

It’s been 22 years since a child as young as either of the Obama girls has moved into the White House. Amy Carter was 9 when her father took office in 1977. President Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, was 12 when she took up residence in America’s most famous home. Both have said growing up in the White House wasn’t always easy.

Advice from Bush twins
The most recent presidential offspring to live in the house were President Bush’s twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara. They were 19 and in college when their father was sworn in. Still, they had some advice for Malia and Sasha.

Video   Bush twins’ letter to Obama girls Jan. 23: Days before moving out of the White House, former President Bush’s two daughters wrote an open letter to Sasha and Malia Obama, giving the girls some advice on living in the White House. Today show

“Surround yourself with loyal friends,” the Bush twins wrote the Obama girls in an open letter. “They’ll protect and calm you and join in on some of the fun, and appreciate the history.”

But Vieira asked how the girls can tell who is a loyal friend, and who’s trying to force a friendship to get access to the White House.

Taylor said the example of their parents will serve the girls well. “They have grown up with amazing adult role models. Their mother has great friends. I think that will extend to the friends that they find,” she said.

Taylor said that it’s important that the Obamas limit their daughters’ access to media and Internet reports about themselves.

“I think it’s going to be important that they really focus on what their parents think about them and what their extended family thinks about them,” she told Vieira.

Maybe the best advice, though, came from the Bush twins’ open letter, which urged the girls to enjoy their new home.

“Slide down the banister of the solarium,” they advised. “Have swimming parties, play sardines on the White House lawn.”

Above all, Jenna and Barbara Bush wrote, “Our most important piece of advice — remember who your dad really is.”

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