Michelle Obama Recalls Daunting Sleepover Security Rules For Daughters

Former US first lady Michelle Obama let her guard down over the weekend, recalling in an interview how Secret Service security shaped the lives of her daughters, Sasha and Malia .

The omnipresent security detail when Barack Obama was US president spanned first kisses and sleepovers at friends, she said. And parents of those friends faced some intimidating guidelines, Obama told Gayle King at the Essence Festival in New Orleans on Saturday.

“Imagine having Malia and Sasha come to your house for a sleepover,” Obama said, per CBS News . “It’s like, ‘Hello. OK, we’re going to need your Social Security number, we’re going to need your date of birth. There are going to be men coming to sweep your house. If you have guns and drugs, just tell them yes because they are going to find them anyway. Don’t lie. They’re not going to take them, they just need to know where they are. And, uh, thank you for having Malia and Sasha over. Oh and by the way, there is going to be a man with a gun sitting outside all night. If you let him use the bathroom, that would be nice.’”

Malia turned 21 on the Fourth of July, and Sasha celebrated her 18th birthday in June. The former first lady said she and her husband are now “empty-nesters,” but she remembered how it was when the whole family called the White House home.

“I mean, I’m surprised my kids have any friends, you know?” she said, per “Entertainment Tonight .”

Watch the Essence Festival interview below: