Do you wonder what a White House Christmas is like? The Obama family traditions were recently highlighted at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. First Lady, Michelle Obama, answered young people's questions about what an Obama Christmas is like.
This Q and A gives some insight into a White House Christmas and how the President and his family will spend their holiday:
Q My name is Yasmine.
MRS. OBAMA: Hi, sweeties. Oh, my goodness.
Q What do you do on Christmas Eve?
MRS. OBAMA: That is a very good question. Sometimes we watch a movie together, we'll have a nice dinner, and then we go to bed kind of early because we've got to be in bed in time for Santa to get there. So Malia and Sasha try to get to bed early so that Santa can come.
Q Does Bo go to bed early in the morning?
MRS. OBAMA: He does. He actually gets pretty tired early. He's usually a lump by about 7:00.
Q Hi. How many chimneys do you have at the White House?
MRS. OBAMA: Chimneys, this is a good question. I just asked this. We have . . . 12 chimneys.
Q Wow.
MRS. OBAMA: It's a big house! . . . . So Santa has many, many options at the White House.
Q Does Santa have to go through Secret Service to visit the White House?
MRS. OBAMA: Well, Santa is probably one of the only people in the world that has his own Secret Service pass. I mean, everybody knows Santa—even the Secret Service. So they give him a pass.
Q Got it.
MRS. OBAMA: He's got the highest security clearance there is.
Q Do you give Bo a gift for Christmas?
MRS. OBAMA: I do. Let's cover his ears. He's probably going to get some stuffed toys. He likes the stuffed toys as opposed to the hard toys, because he chewed all of his toys up. So he's out of toys, and he loves the fluffy toys so I'm going to get him some new fluffy toys.
Q What did you ask Santa for this year?
MRS. OBAMA: You know, I didn't ask Santa for anything yet. You know what I think I want Santa to give? I want Santa to give all the little boys and girls in the world a happy Christmas and good health. That's what I want them to get. (Applause.) Thank you. (Laughter.) Thank you. Thumbs up on that answer.
Q What's your favorite holiday tradition?
MRS. OBAMA: A lot of people know that for Christmas—because the President's family lives in Hawaii—every Christmas since Malia was born we've spent it in Hawaii with the President's family. And that's a nice holiday tradition for us. We get to spend time together, the girls don't have school, they don't have homework, the weather is nice.
And then one of the things we do for Christmas—and we did this when I was a little girl—but because we had a big family and everybody couldn't afford gifts, we did a talent show grab-bag. So everybody would put some gifts into a bag and you had to take a number, and then you had to do some kind of—anything. You would sing, dance, tell a joke—anything. So everybody in the family would gather around after dinner and we would entertain each other. And we still do that at Christmas. We have a talent show every year. That's a good tradition.
Q What is your favorite Christmas tree in the White House?
MRS. OBAMA: The biggest tree in the White House is in a room called the Blue Oval Room, and . . . it's just under 19 feet. And this year we decorated it—we call it our Joining Forces tree, because the decorations—the main decorations on the tree are handmade ornaments from military kids who live in bases all across the world. And there are messages from those kids, a lot of them to their parents who are serving in the military; some of them are to the President. So if you come to the White House, you can look at those ornaments and see the messages. And that's my favorite tree.
Q What are you giving your children for Christmas this week?
MRS. OBAMA: I can't say that either. Look, they'll print it. But they don't ask for that much. We generally encourage them to limit their asks to Santa to three things each. That's it. It's enough.
Q What's your favorite ornament?
MRS. OBAMA: My favorite ornament? In the whole wide world? I love the shiny balls. I love the—yes, anything shiny. What about you?
Q I like shiny.
MRS. OBAMA: All right, how many people like the shiny ornaments? Those are the best ones. (Applause.)
I wish all of our readers at Life Goes Strong shiny holidays and a happy, healthy, safe New Year!
See my bio for links to all my posts as well as to my blog, Confessions of a Worrywart.
See also:
White House related posts:
*White House Christmas Decorations And Displays Of First Dog, Bo
*Planting Vegetables With Michelle Obama in the White House Kitchen Garden
*Celebrity Photos From The White House Correspondents' Dinner
Holiday posts:
*Create Fun, Easy, No-Bake Gingerbread Houses & A Great Icing Recipe
*Gingerbread Houses . . . Fun, Decorative & Can Be More Than A House
*Fun Gift Ideas For The Holidays
