While it was the Obamas who insisted that Marian Robinson move into the White House, she made sure to set some boundaries, giving her daughter’s family the space to do their thing. She would refer to them as “Michelle’s family,” as if they were a separate entity. “My mom has some really wise approaches to family,” Michelle Obama told Oprah.
Speaking to Womens Health, Michelle revealed that her mom would even occasionally refuse to join them for dinner — not because she didn’t want to, but because she wanted the family to have their much-needed alone time as a quartet. “Grandma doesn’t eat with us all the time because she wants to give us, the nuclear family, a chance to bond. She says that she thinks it’s important for Mom, Dad, and the kids to sit down and have that space,” Michelle explained, noting that she, along with Barack, Sasha, and Malia, didn’t exactly share the same sentiment. “This is her belief; we don’t believe it. We’re like, ‘Grandma, when you want to eat, eat.’ She’s like, ‘Let me not get in your way. I like my life over here.'”
She even abides by the rules her daughter had set, and apparently, the two of them had opposing methods of running a household. “I follow the rules at Michelle’s house,” she told People. “I know Michelle is strict … When I’m at their house, the girls are doing all the stuff their mother has told them to do, there’s not much left for me to do!”
