Michelle Obama reveals to Ellen DeGeneres how her family is coping during the coronavirus outbreak
Ellen DeGeneres has been keeping busy since her talk show was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, by catching up with her celebrity friends and sharing the videos on social media. From the comfort of a couch in her Santa Barbara home, the talk show host called former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday to find out how life has been progressing for the Obama clan during the pandemic.
"Always brightens my day to get a call from my friend Ellen, especially on this rainy Monday at home," Mrs. Obama wrote on Twitter. "It's good to know that even when we're apart, we've still got each other."
In the video, the mother of two gave a glimpse into her household, as she shared what her husband and daughters Malia and Sasha have been up to.
"You know, we're just trying to, like, structure our days," Mrs. Obama said. "The girls are back because colleges are now online. So they're off in their respective rooms doing their online classes, and I think Barack is — I don't know where he is. He was on the phone on a conference call. I just got finished with a conference call."
Like many other people stuck indoors, she said the family is also "Netflix and chilling" to pass the time.
DeGeneres took the opportunity to remind Obama how glad she once was that her teenage daughters had left the nest.
"My condolences that the kids are home," DeGeneres lightheartedly quipped. "Because you were saying how happy you are that they're gone."
"I know, I shouldn't have boasted about that. The gods are getting me back," the 56-year-old mom joked.
The former first lady acknowledged the hardships that many are experiencing because of the pandemic, which has infected more than 400,000 people around the world, including more than 51,000 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.
"I feel for all the folks who are going to suffer because of what's going to happen to the economy and we have to be mindful about what we're going to do to support those folks when this quarantine is over," she said.
"This is like no other time in history, particularly for our kids who are so used to being occupied and stimulated all of the time," she added about the challenges facing families today.
"On the positive side, I know for us, it's forced us to sit down with each other, to have real conversations, really ask questions and figure out how to keep ourselves occupied without just TV or computers," she said.
She called the situation "a good exercise in reminding us that we just don't need a lot of the stuff that we have." And that's what she wants her children to take away from this unprecedented circumstance.
"Be grateful for what you have and be ready to share it when the time comes. Because that's really what it's all about," she said on the call. "Now, we're just happy that we're together and everybody is healthy and safe. Who cares about the other stuff?"
On Wednesday, Michelle Obama's nonpartisan not-for-profit organization, When We All Vote, will team up with DJ D-Nice to throw a couch party on Instagram Live to encourage young people to register to vote. The former first lady was one of a long list of celebrities and more than 160,000 other people who tuned in to an epic at-home dance party that D-Nice orchestrated on Instagram live last weekend.
