Saturday, March 17, 2012

Michelle Obama: 'I would be proud' if my daughters joined the military

Back in Nov. 2011, I sat down with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden for an on-camera interview for Yahoo! News. Our conversation touched on several topics, from what it's like to raise kids in the public eye, why they're focusing on help for military families, and how they'd react if their own children decided to join the armed forces.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden during an interview with Yahoo! Shine Senior Editor Lylah M. Alphonse in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Nov. 2, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The videos have expired online, but the articles are still available. Take a look at what they had to say about their kids and the military while I work to get the clips back up and running!

Michelle Obama: If Malia or Sasha Joined the Military, "I Would Be Proud"

In honor of Veterans' Day, Yahoo! Shine went to the White House for an exclusive interview with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to talk about Joining Forces, the White House initiative to support military families. Yahoo! and Yahoo! Shine readers submitted nearly 5,000 questions that they wanted us to ask, including how  Mrs. Obama would react if her daughters Malia and Sasha said that they wanted to join the armed forces. Here's what she had to say about the idea.

Jill Biden already knows what it's like--she's a Blue Star mom herself. "Our son, Beau, is Delaware Army  National Guard. He's been in for 10 years," she told Yahoo! Shine. "He joined in his 30s. And he was deployed to Iraq for a year."

"I felt proud when Beau told me that he was going to join," she said. "He's now a captain, and he's soon to be made a major. We'll go to that ceremony, the entire Biden clan will be there. So we're just very proud."

With the troops from Iraq expected to be home from the holidays, some Yahoo! readers wondered what  the Obama Administration is doing to help support military wives and family members who are coping with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that soldiers may be struggling with.

"Well, our husbands, through this administration, have expanded outreach and counseling through  Veterans Affairs, first and foremost," Mrs. Obama pointed out. "But we need more awareness. We need  more trained professionals available. And that's something that Joining Forces is working on--finding the collaborations of universities out there that are going to improve their curriculums to really gain an  expertise in how do you treat and identify post-traumatic stress disorder."

"But we have to realize, as a nation, that this stress doesn't just apply to the men and women in uniform.  That similar stress is happening at home. And I think a lot of Americans don't think about that," she added. "So we need local professionals and neighbors and community members and teachers aware. This is why you have to know who are the military families in your communities, be able to identify... those stressors."

Dr. Biden, who still teaches English full-time at a community college in Virginia, says that schools are on  the front line in treating PTSD.

"We're taking curriculums into the teachers colleges so that teachers could be aware of the children in their classroom who may have a parent deployed, and what they're going through, and making them aware of it," she explained. "And also I think that the services are doing a much better job of working with the  families."

Those who serve in the National Guard live in with their families in civilian neighborhoods, not on military bases, which means that they may not have the same level of support as other soldiers do once they return home, Dr. Biden pointed out. "I think it's the families that help to work within each other and help to recognize some of the problems."

We also asked the First Lady and Dr. Biden about their families' holiday traditions, what they'd do differently as parents, how they maintain their own identities and careers, and what they think people can do to support military families in general on Veterans' Day and every day, only on Yahoo! Shine.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on maintaining their own identities, careers

Back in Nov. 2011, I sat down with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden for an on-camera interview for Yahoo! News. Our conversation touched on several topics, from what it's like to raise kids in the public eye, why they're focusing on help for military families, and how they'd react if their own children decided to join the armed forces.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden during an interview with Yahoo! Shine Senior Editor Lylah M. Alphonse in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Nov. 2, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The videos have expired online, but the articles are still available. Take a look at what they had to say about Let's Move!, patriotism, pride, and maintaining their own identities and careers while I work to get the clips back up and running!

Yahoo! Readers Ask Michelle Obama and Jill Biden About National Pride, Let's Move, and Keeping Their Careers

 Yahoo! and Yahoo! Shine readers recently offered up nearly 5,000 questions for us to choose from for our exclusive interview with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The First and Second ladies answered some of them in clips that aired earlier this week (you can watch them share their families' holiday traditions here, and talk about what they'd do differently as parents here). And, on Veterans' Day, November 11, we'll share what Dr. Biden (a Blue Star mom herself) has to say about helping military families, and how the First Lady says she'd react if her daughters wanted to join the armed forces.

But readers asked questions about other things: opposition to the White House campaign against childhood obesity, whether Mrs. Obama feels pride in her country now that her husband has been in the Oval Office for three years, and how Dr. Biden maintains her own identity and career in spite of her husband's high-profile job. Here's what they had to say:

On maintaining their own identities and careers:

"The real joy for me is I can continue teaching," Dr. Biden told Yahoo! Shine. "I teach full-time at a community college right nearby here and so that, I think, really kind of keeps me grounded. And I love it. I mean, I was this morning grading papers. I'll be in the classroom tomorrow. So I think that this job has been great as Second Lady because I can have a career and I can also do all the wonderful things that I have the opportunity to do by myself or with Michelle."

"I think we both have strong spouses who care deeply about our own happiness and development," Mrs. Obama said. "You can't do it without that support."

Both women acknowledge that ever person's path in life is different, and you have to figure out what works best for you and your families. "And that may change throughout the course of your life with the kids," Mrs. Obama said. "So I would urge spouses to go with that flow and not be defined by what they think they should do. They should do what's best for them and for their families, and know that that is not going to be static."

On having pride in the United States of America:

Mrs. Obama came under fire in February, 2008, when during a campaign stop in Milwaukee she said, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." She later explained that she was talking about the political process in particular, and that she was "absolutely" always proud of the country, but the criticism continues more than three years later. One Yahoo! reader wrote: "I would like to ask Michelle Obama: What do you think of America now, since your husband has been President for three years? How do you think America has changed, if at all?" So, we asked her exactly that.

"In so many ways we've been changed, and we've grown," Mrs. Obama replied during our on-camera interview. "I think we're growing as a country in terms of our understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices of war. It is very difficult to take for granted the complicated nature of the lives of our men and women in uniform when they choose to serve. We have one percent of the country protecting the freedoms of the other 99 percent of us. That burden is deep, and it is real, and it's something that the rest of us can't take for granted."

Dr. Biden-whose stepson, Beau, is a member of the Delaware Army National Guard-agreed.

"I think that there has been a really positive change," she told Yahoo! Shine. "I lived through the Vietnam War. And seeing those soldiers come back and how they were treated, and seeing now how American embraces military families, I mean, there's a big change."

On Let's Move and childhood obesity:

Several readers wondered whether the administration had ever imagined that people would oppose efforts to inspire better eating habits, but Mrs. Obama says what she sees is support, not a backlash.

"The truth is, is that there is always opposition, it's just a question on whether you focus on it," she said. "The truth is we've seen some tremendous changes, and every industry stepping up."

Pointing to voluntary changes in the restaurant industry, school lunch programs, food manufacturing processes, Mrs. Obama added, "The support has been tremendous. And I think we're making some progress. And it starts with changing the culture."

"We also know that we can't do this alone. You can't ask a family to solve this problem for themselves in a vacuum," she said. "And everybody has been stepping up to provide the kind of support in communities and schools that parents who care -- do care -- about the health of their kids, so that they have that support to make the choices that they need and the changes that they see fit for their kids. So it's been exciting."

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on their holiday traditions

Back in Nov. 2011, I sat down with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden for an on-camera interview for Yahoo! News. Our conversation touched on several topics, from what it's like to raise kids in the public eye, why they're focusing on help for military families, and how they'd react if their own children decided to join the armed forces.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden during an interview with Yahoo! Shine Senior Editor Lylah M. Alphonse in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Nov. 2, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)


The videos have expired online, but the articles are still available. Take a look at what they had to say about the families' holiday traditions while I work to get the clips back up and running!

Exclusive: Michelle Obama and Jill Biden Share Their Families' Secret Holiday Traditions

Yahoo! Shine went to the White House for an exclusive interview with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, where they talked about Joining Forces, the White House initiative to support military families. But Yahoo! and Yahoo! Shine readers submitted nearly 5,000 questions, and so we touched on a few other topics as well. Parenting in the public eye can be tough, but both the Obamas and the Bidens have certain traditions that help keep things simple and down-to-earth during the hectic holiday season, and they shared their secrets with Shine.

During the interview, the First Lady and Dr. Biden also offered up some insight about what it's like to parent while being a public figure. "I don't think that the challenges that we face or that the mistakes or worries or concerns... I don't think it has anything to do with this, right?" The First Lady said, gesturing to the White House and the cameras and the handlers packed into the room during the interview. "It just has to do with the worries of being mothers. And I think that it's universal." (You can watch the video here.) 

Dr. Biden -- who has raised three children with Vice President Joe Biden and whose daughter, Ashley, just announced her engagement -- says that if she had to do it all over again, there are a few things she'd do differently-or, at least, do more of. "I think it's really important to give your children good self-esteem," she told Shine. "So I think probably complimenting them more, giving them more positive reinforcement. I think that's so important for kids."

From her own experience as a teacher, Dr. Biden says she knows that positive reinforcement builds self-esteem, no matter how old you are. "So I think it's doing more of that, that parents should not like get so busy with their lives that they forget that, each and every day to say something really positive to their child," she says.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden on Military Families

Back in Nov. 2011, I sat down with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden for an on-camera interview for Yahoo! News. Our conversation touched on several topics, from what it's like to raise kids in the public eye, why they're focusing on help for military families, and how they'd react if their own children decided to join the armed forces.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden during an interview with Yahoo! Shine Senior Editor Lylah M. Alphonse in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, Nov. 2, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

The videos have expired online, but the articles are still available. Take a look at what they had to say about military families while I work to get the clips back up and running!

Michelle Obama on military families: "There should be no pride that limits them from getting the help that they need"

When we asked Yahoo! and Yahoo! Shine readers to submit questions for us to ask First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, one of the things many readers wanted to know was this: Why have military families become such a priority for this administration?

"I'm not from a military family," Mrs. Obama said candidly. "but I had the opportunity to meet many spouses over the course of the campaign, and truly their stories will take your breath away."

"When you think about the struggles that the average working spouse has, holding down a job, and dealing with daycare, handling sickness, worrying about school and graduation and college for your kids," she continued, "when you take that and you multiply that by five, six, seven deployments, where a loved one is in harm’s way, or you multiply that by nine or 10 schools that a child has had to attend, because that’s the average number of schools that a military child will go through in the course of their educational experience… all of that just makes me think, man, we need to use our voices and our platforms to lift these families up and to find a way to make sure that this nation is stepping up for them in the ways that they’re stepping up for us."

Dr. Biden's interest is more personal: Her oldest stepson, Joseph "Beau" Biden, joined the Delaware National Guard 10 years ago, when he was in his 30s. "He was deployed to Iraq for a year. So I think that I feel a very personal connection with other military families, and have for a long time."

The first lady and Dr. Biden are the faces of Joining Forces, the Obama Administration's initiative to support military families. "One of our mottos of Joining Forces is, 'Do what you do best'." Mrs. Obama told Yahoo! Shine in an exclusive interview at the White House. "We encourage people -- they don’t have to be experts in military life.  They don’t have to live on a base.  They don’t have to live near a base.  Many people should think about taking the talents and gifts that they have and find a way of applying that."

Other military wives and moms with whom we've spoken have said the same thing. "Everybody wants to help," Dena Provenzano told Yahoo! Shine. "And I say, jump in and do it. Just make it happen."

The first lady suggests that civilians like her start by figuring out who are the military families in your midst—in your schools, churches, and your local community. "Identify who’s out there, because many families don’t identify themselves.  It’s particularly Reservists who are our firefighters, our doctors.  They’re our neighbors.  They’re not surrounded by a military community and the support that goes with it.  So those families in particular need things as small as babysitting support, or a meal cooked, or a carpool covered, and many things, big and small."

Dr. Biden--a military mom--agrees. "I know what it was like during the holidays… when I looked down our Christmas table and I saw that my son was not sitting there because he was in Iraq," she remembers.

"I think we’re growing as a country in terms of our understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices of war," the first lady said. "It is very difficult to take for granted the complicated nature of the lives of our men and women in uniform when they choose to serve.  We have one percent of the country protecting the freedoms of the other 99 percent of us.  That burden is deep, and it is real, and it’s something that the rest of us can’t take for granted."

Yahoo! Shine senior editor Lylah M. Alphonse also talked with the First Lady and Dr. Biden about their families' holiday traditions, what they'd do differently as parents, how they maintain their own identities and careers, and how they felt (or, in Mrs. Obama's case, would feel) about their children joining the military. You can find those videos and more, only on Yahoo! Shine. Learn more about the ways you can support the families of US service men and women at Shine.Yahoo.com/veteransday.

 

Monday, March 5, 2012

Money saving tips from Yahoo! Shine and Anderson Cooper

Yahoo! Shine was featured on Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show, "Anderson," today, as I doled out a few money-saving tips. You can watch the clip on Yahoo! Shine, find out more about the "Easy Money Hour" episode of "Anderson," and read my tips right here at WriteEditRepeat: