Leaving the Kids Alone

While reading through the glutton of inaugural news coverage, I stumbled upon this short passage in an article about a kids inaugural ball that was thrown on behalf of Malia (10) and Sasha (7) Obama and Vice-President Biden’s grandchildren. The concert was headlined by Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.

Malia stopped dancing after it appeared she noticed onlookers snapping pictures of her with their cell phones, but she quickly rejoined the fun after some coaxing from 10-year-old Finnegan Biden.

I know a lot of people are excited about having a young family – especially one with young children – in the White House for the next four years. Nothing personifies hope and optimize for the future quite like children. However, I can’t help but feel for Sasha and particularly Malia because they will be hitting those awkward tween years while their dad is in office. It’s difficult enough as it is growing up in a regular middle-class family. I can’t imagine how Malia and Sasha will be able to enjoy the simple types of fun other kids their age enjoy while being the President’s kids.

Maybe being the protective father to three children close in age to the Maila and Sasha influences my feeling on the matter, but things like seeing Malia snapping photos with her digital camera at Sunday’s inaugural concert on HBO or reading that passage about Malia becoming self-conscious while enjoying herself at another concert highlights those concerns for me. Hopefully President Obama and Michelle will be able to carve out some level of normalcy for their children and the gawking press and public give the girls the distance they need to just be the kids that they are.