Obama Girls Will Keep Chores: Mom

(NEWSER) - After a wait that felt almost as long as the presidential campaign, the Obamas have decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog, People reports. Her daughters can hardly wait, Michelle Obama said. “So Sasha says, 'April 1st.' I said, 'April.' She says, 'April 1st.' It's, like, April!" the first lady said. “You can't get a new dog and then go away for a week.” More»

Obamas seek as normal a life as possible for kids

(NEWSER) - For the Obamas, raising their daughters without “an attitude” is a priority—but it’s a tough job when the family has its own movie theater, full-time chefs, and trail of paparazzi, the New York Times notes. The key is a firm hand giving the kids as normal a life as possible, according to Michelle Obama. “Don’t make their beds. They have to learn these things,” she has ordered the staff. More»

President-elect told he can't move into official guest house early

(NEWSER) - Washington's hotels are booked solid for January and the Obamas have joined those struggling to find a place to stay, the New York Times reports. The president-elect and his wife had hoped to move into Blair House, the official White House guest house, in time for the girls to start their new school Jan. 5. But the Bush administration has told them it won't be available until January 15—just 5 days before the inauguration. More»

But says he's still got work left to do

(NEWSER) - President Obama says the first family would be just fine if they were just a regular family. “If I said, ‘You guys, I want to do something different,’ they’d be fine,” Obama told the TODAY show this morning. “They’re not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president.” He added that if Michelle “didn’t think that what we were doing was worthwhile … she’d be the first to say, ‘Why don’t you do something else that’s a little less stressful?’” More»

First daughters 'unbelievably well-adjusted kids': President Obama

(NEWSER) - Barack and Michelle Obama's determination to keep their daughters' daily routines as normal as life in the White House can be is paying off, the proud president says. "Malia and Sasha have just turned out to be unbelievably well-adjusted kids," Barack Obama said this morning on the Today show. "The thing that's most important to me is that they are so respectful of everybody and haven't gotten on any airs." More»