‘I Want To Hear Santa Talk’

Every year, Michelle Obama would talk to kids on Christmas Eve as part of the NORAD Santa Tracker program and the t… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

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laura olin (@lauraolin) December 24, 2017

@lauraolin @sparksjls my favorite is austin, the skeptic https://t.co/fXS199zZp3

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Rebecca Fishbein (@bfishbfish) December 24, 2017

Tracking Santa

First Lady Michelle Obama: “I’m helping to track Santa tonight. He’s flying all over the world delivering presents to boys and girls. And I can see him on my radar screen in his sleigh, and he’s heading towards your house.” —The First Lady and NORAD are tracking Santa’s sleigh around the world

Santa-tracking

First Lady Michelle Obama reacts while talking on the phone to children across the country as part of the annual NORAD Tracks Santa program. Mrs. Obama answered the phone calls from Kailua, Hawaii, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Funniest exchange ever on the NORAD call (read it all at BuzzFeed):

MRS. OBAMA: Hi, Anthony, it’s Michelle Obama, the First Lady. How are you?

ANTHONY: Good.

MRS. OBAMA: How old are you, Anthony?

ANTHONY: Eleven…..

ANTHONY: Can you come visit me in Texas?

MRS. OBAMA: Yeah, he’s (Santa) heading your way….

ANTHONY: Yeah, I was talking about you trying to visit me.

MRS. OBAMA: Oh, me come to visit you. (Laughter.) Well, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to come and visit before Christmas tomorrow, but if ever I find myself in Texas next year — and I know I’m going to be coming to Texas one time next year — hopefully we can see each other then. How does that sound?

ANTHONY: Will you come to my house?

MRS. OBAMA: Yeah, I don’t know if I can come to your house. I might not be able to do that. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you, though.

ANTHONY: How about my school?

MRS. OBAMA: Your school — maybe your school. What school do you go to?

ANTHONY: (Inaudible).

MRS. OBAMA: All right, well, I’m going to tell my assistant right now…..

ANTHONY: Can I talk to your husband?

MRS. OBAMA: He’s not here right now. (Laughter.) But you know what, I will tell him that you asked about him. Okay?

ANTHONY: Okay.

MRS. OBAMA: All right. You keep being a good kid. Work hard in school, okay?

ANTHONY: Okay. Tell your daughters I said Merry Christmas.

MRS. OBAMA: I sure will. Thank you so much. You give your family my best, okay? You give them all a Merry Christmas from all of the Obamas, okay?

ANTHONY: Okay. Thank you.

MRS. OBAMA: All right, bye-bye.

ANTHONY: Bye-bye.

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And President Obama makes a brand new friend in Hawaii….

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santa’s helper

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.”

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