25 | December | 2010 | The Obama Diary

Archive for December 25th, 2010

Dec

santa’s helper

Categories: All Photos and Michelle Obama
Tags: call, calls, children, Christmas, funny, kids, Michelle, norad, Obama, phone, santa, telephone

Politico: While President Barack Obama took his daughters to the beach, the first lady played the role of Christmas elf, surprising little girls and boys inquiring about the whereabouts of Santa.

“Hello, this is the first lady, Michelle Obama, with NORAD, tracking Santa. How can I help you?” she said, taking a call from an 8-year-old boy named Max from Los Angeles…..

….The first lady took a dozen calls over 40 minutes from inside the family’s vacation rental in Kailua. She reminded the kids to put out cookies – and vegetables – for Santa and his reindeer and warned the kids to get to sleep their houses might be skipped.

She also answered a few questions about what it’s like to be first lady – and to be married to the president – from an inquisitive little boy named Austin. “Is it a hard job?” Austin asked. The first lady said it’s not as hard as being president and can be fun because she gets to work with kids.

“Is it hard to have all that security around you?” Austin wondered. It’s not, the first lady said. The Secret Service are very nice and professional, she added. “They’re good with the girls,” she said, referring to her daughters, Sasha and Malia. “It’s almost like they’re family after a while. So it’s not that hard having them around. And they’re there to keep us safe, right? You can’t be mad at that, right?” “Right,” Austin agreed before asking the first lady if it’s hard being married to the president.

“No, he’s a pretty good guy,” she said. “I mean, it’s a tough job and sometimes you want to do everything you can to help him, but it’s pretty easy being married to him. He’s kind of funny — fun to hang out with.”

Obama feigned surprise when another boy told her he got an e-mail from Santa this year. “You got an e-mail from Santa?” she said. “Well, he’s really moving up. He’s pretty high-tech now.”

The first lady told a 8-year-old girl named Juliana that her daughter Sasha, 9, is “bouncing off the walls” with excitement over Christmas. Juliana said she was looking forward to an MP3 player. “Oh, you sound just like Sasha,” the first lady replied. “Same thing.”