Why Michelle Obama Refused To Have Another Child After Sasha & Malia

A maverick first lady, Michelle Obama often felt like the country's mother. Her main initiatives included MyPlate and the Let's Move! Campaign, which both catered to bettering the lives of America's children — a passion that has been with Michelle since her early days. But in her own household, Michelle was okay with just two kids: first daughters, Malia and Sasha. When her husband, former President Barack Obama, brought up the idea of a third, Michelle's response couldn't have been better.

While chatting with Kylie Kelce on her podcast, "Not Gonna Lie," the attorney gave credit to her host, who has three children with pro football player Jason Kelce, plus a fourth on the way. Speaking on her own experience as a mother of two, Michelle said, "I just had to stop ... I was like, 'I think I've been lucky with these two.'" It was when Barack asked her if they should have a third child that she gave him an ever-so-relatable response: "Dude."

Kylie chimed in, saying, "Well, two good sleepers, I'd call it, too." Michelle's keen instincts told her that another kid would jinx her daughters' well-behaved streak, saying, "You know, I'm thinking, 'We're gonna get a crazy one. It's just the roll of the dice.'"

On motherhood, Michelle Obama wrote in her 2022 book, "The Light We Carry: Overcoming Uncertain Times," that "Caring for your kids and watching them grow is one of the most rewarding endeavors on Earth, and at the same time it can drive you nuts." One thing Michelle admits she struggles with is loosening her control. During Revolt Studios' "Cross-Generational Conversation" in 2022, the former first lady said, "It's that push and pull of: 'How do I protect my child?' And we feel this until they are — forever, right? But how do I let them go so that they can have these experiences, get bumped in the head, walk off the cliff, walk into a wall?" Michelle continued: "This is the hardest part about parenting."

Sasha and Malia Obama had it harder than most kids, growing up in the White House and constantly being under the nation's microscope. It was one of Michelle's missions as a parent to ensure that her kids had a semblance of normalcy while their dad was president. "We made sure they had responsibilities," Michelle told her brother, Craig Robinson, on "The Michelle Obama Podcast" in 2020 (via Hollywood Life). "We had to do things like institute rules that the housekeepers couldn't clean the girls' rooms, and that they had to make up their own beds, and have a set of chores."