Getting To Know The Obama Grandmama -- Michelle's Mom

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

by Christine Bowman

She's the Obama Grandmama, Michelle's mother, and the President-elect's mother-in-law. She is known mostly to the world as their willing baby sitter. But what else do we know about Marian Shields Robinson?

^{Michelle Obama's brother and mom, Craig and Marian Robinson}

As reported last year in O, The Oprah Magazine, getting to know Marian is key to understanding Michelle. One interesting tidbit is that Marian Robinson took up a new sport when she was in her fifties:

Of all the stories I've heard about Michelle Obama, the most telling might be one about her mother, 70-year-old Marian Robinson, a tall woman with impeccable posture, a vivid smile, and excruciatingly high personal standards. On the far side of her 50th birthday, Robinson took up running. She was good, she had speed -- she even competed in the national Senior Olympics -- but after a fall a few years ago left her unable to hit her stride, she dropped the sport without hesitation. "If I can't do it fast, I'm not doing it," she says. "You don't run just to be running -- you run to win."

The Heart and Mind of Michelle Obama (oprah.com)

Another mention of Marian Robinson's athletic abilities appears in a January, 2007 Chicago Sun-Times article: "Michelle also was athletic, playing baseball, football and basketball with her brother, father and mother -- who, in her late 50s, won some short-distance running events at the Senior Olympics in Champaign (IL)." In an interview with Ebony Magazine Marian confirms she ran the 50- and 100-yard dash. So she played sports and competed as a senior sprinter.

It's also clear that, as a mother, Marian Robinson put learning first. Scott Helman of The Boston Globe reported that Marian and her husband Fraser Robinson both attended college but did not complete any college degrees -- "a decision Marian Robinson said they regretted and used as a lesson for their children." Before her marriage, Marian's family had hoped she would one day be a teacher.

The Robinsons' emphasis on education never lagged. Both Michelle and brother Craig learned to read at an early age, and both went on to excel in school. Craig attended Catholic schools, and Michelle made her way through gifted classes and a magnet high school. Both continued their upward paths through Princeton University and elite graduate schools. They also went on to achieve professional success. 

Michelle and Marian tease one another about the strictness that both have embraced as parents in their respective households. Marian ran a tight ship that included the kids doing their chores. It's an example that Michelle still follows, while Marian has begun a shift towards grandmotherly indulgence:

A steely 70-year-old matriarch with a raspy voice and seen-it-all laugh, Robinson manages the family while Obama and his wife, Michelle, venture to the far reaches of the campaign trail.

... Robinson stays with Malia and Sasha at the Obamas' six-bedroom home or looks after them at hers. When Michelle Obama is out of town, Robinson's day is full: She sleeps over at the family's house, gets the girls up in the morning, and feeds them breakfast according to the strictures imposed by their mother, who insists on organics and natural foods. Robinson ensures their lunches are packed, combs their hair, and drives them to school.

Most days, Robinson becomes a chauffeur after school, shuttling her granddaughters to piano lessons, gymnastics, dance practice, soccer, and tennis. She prepares dinner (with certain nutritional requirements, of course), supervises their homework, and limits their TV watching to an hour. (Another rule of their mother's.)

"She has them so, I don't know, like little soldiers," Robinson said.

... The 8:30 bedtime? "That's ridiculous!" Robinson said. The TV-for-an-hour rule? "That's just not enough time," she said.

Michelle Obama said she learned these strict routines from her mother. But Robinson, now that she's a grandmother, finds them confining.

"I've heard [Michelle] say, 'Mom, what are you rolling your eyes at? You made us do the same thing,"' Robinson said. "I don't remember being that bad. It seems like she's just going overboard." ...

While Robinson tries to obey regulations when she watches the girls at the Obamas' house, her grandmotherly indulgences know few bounds when they come to her place.

"I have candy, they stay up late - come to my house, they watch TV as long as they want to, we'll play games until the wee hours," Robinson said. "I do everything that grandmothers do that they're not supposed to."

Holding Down the Family Fort (boston.com)

Barack and Michelle Obama often have stated their desire to keep their daughters' lives as normal and grounded as possible. Marian Robinson has been the key to that during the two-year long campaign. After all, as a young woman Marian managed her own home and her children's lives against some pretty tough odds. Their father, Fraser, had multiple sclerosis from about age thirty.  "We grew up with a father who was on crutches and getting up and going to work every day," Craig says. The Robinsons just took it in stride. Fraser was the family breadwinner, and Marian the homemaker, with Marian going back to work as a secretary only once Michelle was in high school. 

Determination, humor, and smarts -- all part of Marian Shields Robinson's personal story. Her next chapter in D.C. is sure to be another interesting one.

^{Barack Obama discusses his mother-in-law on "Sixty Minutes":}

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