--- title: Michelle Obama on Life After the White House description: Former First Lady Michelle Obama says "the small things" are what she appreciates most about life after the White House. canonical: https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/ author: Ciara Nugent article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-11T14:08:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:43:00.728Z article:section: Politics og:title: Michelle Obama on What She Enjoys Most About Life After the White House og:description: And how it was being a mom in the White House og:url: https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20039ae16569090e/69893c61ab6d771bc86b3e81/gettyimages-981723336.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 ALAAnnual Conference & Exhibition og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama on What She Enjoys Most About Life After the White House twitter:description: And how it was being a mom in the White House twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20039ae16569090e/69893c61ab6d771bc86b3e81/gettyimages-981723336.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama on What She Enjoys Most About Life After the White House ## Video: Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol [Watch (HLS stream): Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LsO2MvIc.m3u8) (1:05)  _Published 2017-01-20. Barack and Michelle Obama board a military helicopter from the U.S. Capitol following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States._  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Oct 11, 2018 2:08 PM UTC  Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama speaks during the Opening General Session of the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on June 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama speaks during the Opening General Session of the 2018 American Library Association Annual Conference at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on June 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Erika Goldring – WireImage  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Oct 11, 2018 2:08 PM UTC Former First Lady Michelle Obama says “the small things” are what she appreciates most about life after the White House. “It’s opening up my door and walking out and enjoying the weather and sitting on my patio,” she told NBC’s _Today_ show Thursday. “It’s going to my girls’ game and just really being a mom.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1050356852767301632) She also spoke about how she and former President Barack Obama have managed life “out in the real world” 21 months after leaving the White House. “One of the keys to a successful marriage is separate bathrooms,” she said. “When he enters my bathroom sometimes I’m like, ‘Why are you in here?’ And he’s like, ‘I live here, can I enjoy my bathroom too?'” The former First Lady has recently stepped up her public engagements after a period out of the spotlight. On Thursday she launched education initiative [the Global Girls Alliance](https://www.today.com/popculture/international-day-girl-today-concert-what-you-need-know-t138445), and in November she begins a 10-city tour to promote her upcoming memoir _Becoming_. > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1050357202727432192) She told _Today_ that the book sheds light on her fears for her daughters in the early days of the Obamas’ eight years in the White House. “It took me several months in the White House before I could take a deep breath because I knew that this transition wasn’t gonna take them out,” she said. “I thought, what on earth are we doing to them?” “They’ve spent the majority of their life in the international spotlight, with all the criticisms and the judgements,” she said. “But they are down to earth, they are humble, they are normal. It has been a huge relief.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama on What She Enjoys Most About Life After the White House","datePublished":"2018-10-11T14:08:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:43:00.728Z","description":"Former First Lady Michelle Obama says \"the small things\" are what she appreciates most about life after the White House.","url":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/","keywords":["Michelle Obama","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20039ae16569090e/69893c61ab6d771bc86b3e81/gettyimages-981723336.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ciara Nugent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20039ae16569090e/69893c61ab6d771bc86b3e81/gettyimages-981723336.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 ALAAnnual Conference & Exhibition","caption":"2018 ALAAnnual Conference & Exhibition","creditText":"Erika Goldring – WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/michelle-obama/","name":"Michelle Obama"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/","name":"Michelle Obama on What She Enjoys Most About Life After the White House"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Obamas Board Helicopter to Leave the U.S. Capitol","description":"Barack and Michelle Obama board a military helicopter from the U.S. Capitol following the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LsO2MvIc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-01-20T18:16:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LsO2MvIc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5421731/michelle-obama-white-house/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```