Michelle Obama's Advice For Bad Days
Lynn Sweet
Correspondent
Posted:
05/14/09
WASHINGTON-First Lady Michelle Obama visited an elementary school here on Wednesday, reading and talking to students about how to cope with bad days in general, and getting gummy hair in particular. Mrs. Obama's advice could be the title of a self-help book. "Spit the gum out before you go to bed."
And we learned: "Even the President of the United States has a couple of bad days," Mrs. Obama said.
One student told her Mrs. Obama she was reading a book about the Jonas Brothers. The songster brothers visited the White House after the inauguration to visit with daughters Malia and Sasha, big fans.
"The Jonas Brothers! Oh, they have a book? My girls love the Jonas Brothers, but I don't think that they know that there's a book out about them, and I'm not going to tell them," she said.
Another child reported reading a Harry Potter book.
"Harry Potter! Oh, my big girl loves Harry Potter, loves Harry Potter. I got to meet the woman who wrote Harry Potter when I went to visit the Queen in England. I sat next to her. And people were more excited about her than they were about the Queen, because everybody loves Harry Potter."
Mrs. Obama said she did not pick the book-of-the-day: Judith Viorst's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."
This title prompted Mrs. Obama to ask if any of the kids ever had a bad day. "Just shout out some stuff when it was a bad day. What do you remember happening?
"I fell in mud on my birthday," said one.
Agreed Mrs. Obama, "Oh, mud on your birthday? Now, that's a very bad day." (DailyFlotus scribe will avoid mud tomorrow, so not to ruin birthday.)
The First Lady was trying to teach the lesson that good days follow bad.
"So what do you think this book is trying to teach us? Are they just telling us that this is just a bad day? What do you think? What do you guys think you learned from this book?"
"I think I learned that -- never chew gum in my mouth while I'm sleeping," a youth said.
Mrs. Obama agreed. "That's a good one. Never chew gum in my mouth while you're sleeping. That's a lesson to learn. Does everybody have that? Spit the gum out before you go to bed."
She used an example from one of her daughters about how getting over being mad.
"I was telling my daughter that the other day, because she was trying to ride her bike, and she was trying to get up the hill, and she was mad because she couldn't get up the hill. But the madder she got the harder it was for her to get up the hill, because she was spending all of her energy being mad and not focusing on getting up the hill. So when she stopped getting mad and focused her energy on what she was trying to do, she was able to do it.
"So sometimes if you spend all your time being frustrated about your bad day, sometimes it just makes it worse, right? What do you think?
Prompted by the book, the chat turned to bad days.
"Every day isn't a good day, right. Nobody's life is perfect and nobody is going to have a great day every day. Everybody has a bad day -- even me. Even the President of the United States has a couple of bad days."
The kds asked Mrs. Obama some personal questions:
"When you first spoke on TV, were you shy?
She replied, "Oh, anytime you talk on TV, I think being nervous is normal. Don't you guys get nervous when you have to talk in front of people?"
Yes, children said.
"Well, yes. I think everybody gets a little nervous. Our kids asked us that, because when they have to do presentations, they talk about being nervous. It's normal to be nervous, because then if you're nervous, what?"
The kids said, "It will come out right."
Mrs Obama offered advice on conquering nervousness: "Yes, you'll prepare. If you think, oh, I've got this, I'm just going to stand up and talk, and I can get it right -- and sometimes, that's when you mess up. But if you're a little nervous, you work harder to get it right. So I just take that nervousness and try to make sure that I'm ready. That's why going to school is so important, because school -- third grade, learning how to read -- gets you ready for a whole bunch of things that you're going to have to do in life."
And we learned: "Even the President of the United States has a couple of bad days," Mrs. Obama said.
One student told her Mrs. Obama she was reading a book about the Jonas Brothers. The songster brothers visited the White House after the inauguration to visit with daughters Malia and Sasha, big fans.
"The Jonas Brothers! Oh, they have a book? My girls love the Jonas Brothers, but I don't think that they know that there's a book out about them, and I'm not going to tell them," she said.
Another child reported reading a Harry Potter book.
"Harry Potter! Oh, my big girl loves Harry Potter, loves Harry Potter. I got to meet the woman who wrote Harry Potter when I went to visit the Queen in England. I sat next to her. And people were more excited about her than they were about the Queen, because everybody loves Harry Potter."
Mrs. Obama said she did not pick the book-of-the-day: Judith Viorst's "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."
This title prompted Mrs. Obama to ask if any of the kids ever had a bad day. "Just shout out some stuff when it was a bad day. What do you remember happening?
"I fell in mud on my birthday," said one.
Agreed Mrs. Obama, "Oh, mud on your birthday? Now, that's a very bad day." (DailyFlotus scribe will avoid mud tomorrow, so not to ruin birthday.)
The First Lady was trying to teach the lesson that good days follow bad.
"So what do you think this book is trying to teach us? Are they just telling us that this is just a bad day? What do you think? What do you guys think you learned from this book?"
"I think I learned that -- never chew gum in my mouth while I'm sleeping," a youth said.
Mrs. Obama agreed. "That's a good one. Never chew gum in my mouth while you're sleeping. That's a lesson to learn. Does everybody have that? Spit the gum out before you go to bed."
She used an example from one of her daughters about how getting over being mad.
"I was telling my daughter that the other day, because she was trying to ride her bike, and she was trying to get up the hill, and she was mad because she couldn't get up the hill. But the madder she got the harder it was for her to get up the hill, because she was spending all of her energy being mad and not focusing on getting up the hill. So when she stopped getting mad and focused her energy on what she was trying to do, she was able to do it.
"So sometimes if you spend all your time being frustrated about your bad day, sometimes it just makes it worse, right? What do you think?
Prompted by the book, the chat turned to bad days.
"Every day isn't a good day, right. Nobody's life is perfect and nobody is going to have a great day every day. Everybody has a bad day -- even me. Even the President of the United States has a couple of bad days."
The kds asked Mrs. Obama some personal questions:
"When you first spoke on TV, were you shy?
She replied, "Oh, anytime you talk on TV, I think being nervous is normal. Don't you guys get nervous when you have to talk in front of people?"
Yes, children said.
"Well, yes. I think everybody gets a little nervous. Our kids asked us that, because when they have to do presentations, they talk about being nervous. It's normal to be nervous, because then if you're nervous, what?"
The kids said, "It will come out right."
Mrs Obama offered advice on conquering nervousness: "Yes, you'll prepare. If you think, oh, I've got this, I'm just going to stand up and talk, and I can get it right -- and sometimes, that's when you mess up. But if you're a little nervous, you work harder to get it right. So I just take that nervousness and try to make sure that I'm ready. That's why going to school is so important, because school -- third grade, learning how to read -- gets you ready for a whole bunch of things that you're going to have to do in life."