Obama girls to hit teen milestones in White House
BY CONNIE CASS Associated Press
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
1/22/13 at 6:50 AM
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Original Print Headline: Obama girls nearing teen milestones
WASHINGTON - That's how it goes with kids. You hardly notice how fast they're growing up, then suddenly big sis is nearly as tall as Mom and the little one is a tween, gently sassing Dad.
On the inaugural platform again four years later, a more mature Malia Obama, 14, and Sasha, 11, smiled, sometimes giggled, and chatted with their cousin Avery Robinson as they awaited their father's arrival. Sasha bounced on her feet a bit as if chilly; later at the parade she danced in her seat to the beat of passing drummers. Malia, rivaling her mother's 5 feet 11 inches, looked poised in calf-high black boots. Like any girls their age, they whipped out their smartphones in the reviewing stand to take photos.
Both daughters appeared relaxed and oblivious to their global TV audience, unaffected by their rare status, unfazed by the fuss over their father.
Meanwhile, fashion-watchers were tweeting about the girls' coats in vibrant shades of purple. For the record: Malia wore a J. Crew ensemble, Sasha's was Kate Spade, and first lady Michelle Obama was in a Thom Browne coat with a navy print like a man's silk tie.
Such attention to the Obamas' clothes, their Hawaiian vacations, their hair - Michelle lit up Twitter last week by adding bangs - will continue as they charge into a time of turbulence for so many American families: the teen years.
In the second term Sasha, who arrived in the White House as a second-grader, moves on to high school.
For Malia, the milestones to come are many - she'll be hitting the years when typical teens start driving, dating and applying to colleges.
Life in the White House is bound to feel different to a teen than it does to a second-grader.
Seven-year-old Emanuel Coleman's grandmother positioned him on the steps of the National Gallery of Art to watch the swearing-in on a giant outdoor screen Monday. The Durham, N.C., boy thought life for a White House kid must be cool, because the president has "his own private limo, helicopter and lives in a really big house."
"It would be fun to fly in the presidential helicopter," Emanuel enthused.
Sixteen-year-old Colleen Casey isn't so sure.
"They have to live their life in their dad's shadow," said Casey, from nearby Woodbridge, Va. "You can't be your own person."
Associated Images:
President Barack Obama applauds with his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha (left) and Malia (center) before his ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington on Monday. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS / AP
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