Michelle Obama says the ‘ultimate job' for a parent is to let kids fail and build resilience
Former first lady Michelle Obama expressed the importance of parents 'extending the leash' by letting kids take risks and fail.
In the latest episode of her 'IMO' podcast on Wednesday, Obama spoke about wanting her daughters to have confidence and independence while acknowledging that they can only learn those traits through trial and error.
Advertisement
'I think a lot of parents are afraid of watching that failure,' she said. 'It is the hardest thing to do to watch your kids walk into a wall that you knew was there. And you told them not to walk into it. Until they hit it and get a lump on their head, they just won't learn it. That's a painful thing for us.'
Still, she added, 'If you keep your kids from that experience, a bump on the head, you're robbing them of their own competency. They need to know that you can bump your head, and you can figure it out. Go to the doctor. Put some ice on it. Don't do it again.
'Let's talk about it after the fact. But as you get older, I shouldn't have to walk you through everything. I think it's a constant exercise of extending the leash, always err on the side of making it longer.'
3 Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Getty Images
Advertisement
3 First lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Sasha Obama and Malia Obama arrive during the presidential inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Getty Images
Obama said she believed some parents hold onto their kids too long despite their 'ultimate job' being to teach them resilience.
She advised parents to start out when their kids are young with simple things such as going to school by themselves.
'Take some risks because you can land softly here,' she remarked.
Advertisement
3 Michelle Obama speaks onstage at IMO Live: Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson & Dr. Laurie Santos during the 2025 SXSW Conference and Festival at Austin Convention Center on March 13, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Getty Images
During an episode of her podcast last week, Obama also warned parents against being too concerned with being their kids' friends.
'So many people are trying to be their kids' friends, and they think that that makes you closer,' Obama said. 'But let me tell you, I was not my children's friend. I love them deeply. There was respect. And, you know, for those of you trying to be friends with your kids, our kids love us just as much as adults.
'In fact, the relationship, I think, is even closer because now they've earned my friendship. Now we can be friends. Now, maybe you know something.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
11 of the best and worst looks celebrities wore to the 2025 BET Awards
The 2025 BET Awards took place in Los Angeles on Monday. A-list stars attended the show in stylish and daring outfits. Keke Palmer and Doechii wore standout outfits, but other stars didn't look their best. The 2025 BET Awards were a night to remember. From performances by stars like Mariah Carey and Lil Wayne to a memorable speech from Doechii, the awards show, which took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, was full of music and heart. Actors, musicians, and athletes came together for the celebration, arriving in red-carpet looks designed to stun — but some looks were better than others. Take a look at some of the best and worst outfits celebrities wore to the 2025 BET Awards. Keke Palmer dazzled in a vintage Chanel minidress. Palmer arrived at the awards show in a minidress from Chanel's 1993 fall collection. The halter dress was sheer on the bodice, and silver sequins provided Palmer with some coverage. The sequins continued on the navy skirt and tulle train, which puffed out behind her to the mid-calf. Black, pointed-toe heels completed her sexy and fun look. Machine Gun Kelly's yellow top and coordinating tie were too casual. Keeping it simple on the red carpet isn't always a bad move, but Machine Gun Kelly's take on simplicity felt lackluster. He paired a butter yellow top and matching tie with wide-legged black pants and black shoes. The artist could have made his look stand out more with bolder accessories or a statement jacket. Mario's playful ensemble blended fabrics. Mario's custom House of Gray ensemble included a tailored olive green blouse with a subtle sheen and patterned pants. The contrasting patterns blended well, and Mario tied his outfit together with a statement brooch, a silver chain, and sunglasses. He looked glamorous and chic. The elements of Ciara's all-black look didn't work together. Ciara chose a Cong Tri ensemble for the BET Awards. The look included a black blouse, a miniskirt with layers of fringe and a train, heels laced around her ankles, and a sparkly Braves hat. The individual pieces of Ciara's outfit were all stylish, but together, they distracted from each other. The top and hat might have worked better with a pair of trousers rather than the bold skirt. T.I.'s blue suit would have been great with different accessories. T.I.'s powder blue suit from Hideoki Bespoke had a stripe of textured beige fabric across the jacket. He wore a white shirt under the jacket with no tie, and he paired brown boots with the look. The jacket's stripe should have been the focal point of the look, but the boots and lack of tie detracted from it. A tie that matched the stripe or lighter shoes could have brought it all together. Doechii looked effortlessly chic in a Miu Miu set. Doechii's stylish red set featured a bandana top and a low-waisted, pleated skirt that flared around her knees. Both had gold trim on the hem, and the top was embossed with "Miu Miu" in the same color. The "Anxiety" singer completed the outfit with a chained belt, chunky bracelets, brown sunglasses, and purple-flower-adorned heels. Snoop Dogg's monochromatic ensemble was stylish. Snoop Dogg wore a bright blue outfit that coordinated with his wife's look. The outfit featured a knee-length jacket, a blue top, loose-fitting pants, sneakers, and even blue sunglasses. It was put-together and stylish without feeling overly extravagant. There was too much going on in Cam Newton's floral outfit. Newton's fitted silver vest and pants were embroidered with colorful flowers. He wore the vest with no shirt and rolled his pants, and he accessorized the colorful look with green loafers, a polka-dot green neck scarf and tie, and an olive green hat. The vest and pants were pretty, but Newton's styling didn't let them shine. His various green accessories clashed, and he could have emphasized the floral pieces better with fewer, more neutral accessories. Ryan Destiny looked ethereal in a silver gown. Styled by Law Roach, Destiny walked the BET red carpet in a silver Loewe gown. The gown's silky fabric was billowing and ruched, but the dress also had some structured detailing, like a pointed neckline and a cinched waist. Gray pumps and silver jewelry completed the sleek and feminine ensemble. Tyler Perry arrived in a fashion-forward take on a tuxedo. Perry's Louis Vuitton look included wide-legged pants, a white blouse, a black bow tie, and a patterned jacket. The jacket was a fun alternative to a traditional suit. It had a zipper, a sparkly zig-zag pattern, and the LV logo on the chest. With statement sunglasses to complete it, Perry's outfit was both classic and fashion-forward. GloRilla looked daring and chic at the BET Awards. The halter bodice of GloRilla's black dress had tie fastenings that created crisscross cutouts down the center. Structured ruching on the waist spilled into a skirt with a thigh-high slit on one side. The slit spotlighted GloRilla's heels, which laced up her calves and coordinated with the dress. The classic silhouette contrasted with the modern cutouts, creating a balanced look. Read the original article on Business Insider
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Apple iPad 11: Tested and reviewed
Apple put so little effort into revealing the new 11th-generation iPad this past spring that I'd bet most don't know that there's a new basic iPad for 2025. Announced within the press release for the new iPad Air M3, the new entry-level iPad is both massively important and admittedly boring. That's what we expect, though, when Apple continues to make small tweaks that don't rock the boat on its most-accessible iPad. Still, this latest iteration ensures that Apple's most affordable tablet is still the best iPad for most people and likely the top tablet as well. But is this update one that demands purchase right now, or can you wait until you need it? Let's find out. Apple iPad (11th Gen)The 2025 iteration of Apple's basic tablet is faster than before, but the biggest difference comes with a starting storage upgrade that makes it easier to download and use a bunch of apps. The iPad is still the de facto tablet for most people For a while, the regular iPad had the same boring design and the same dark and flat colors you get on its pricier laptops. Then, in 2022, Apple introduced the 10th-generation iPad with flat sides that match the rest of its tablet hardware. This iPad is the first update to that model, and it is physically identical, sharing all the same dimensions and weight. The iPad's 11-inch screen is surrounded by bezels that aren't especially chunky and give you a fair amount of room to grip the tablet without activating the display accidentally. While the iPad Mini is arguably better for reading books and for smaller spaces like an airplane's seat-back tray table, this screen is pretty great for most activities, including multitasking in split-screen mode. While the iPad's screen is a bit too glossy (more on that below), it's still otherwise great for everything I watched and played this week. From the bright yellow plane in the trailer for 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' to the lush greens of the grass in Genshin Impact, just about all my content looked pretty good. It looked good enough, in fact, that I was wishing there were a larger, 13-inch version of this iPad, a size that's currently reserved for the iPad Pro. The iPad draws power from the USB-C port on the bottom, and it's got a three-dot Smart Connector for connecting various keyboard accessories. It's sold in blue, pink, silver and yellow, a bold set of colors that I wish were available throughout Apple's lineup and not just for the iMac M4. You also get some of the same standards as before, such as the rear 12-megapixel camera that can record 4K video. The 10th-generation iPad had this same camera, which was an upgrade from the 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video in the 9th-generation iPad. I'm not sure who needs that resolution in a tablet, but it's nice to know it's there. Additionally, you get a 12-megapixel front camera that supports Apple's Center Stage feature that keeps you properly framed on the screen by zooming in and out on video calls. When I dialed up my colleague Mike Andronico on Slack for a video call, he said I sounded and looked 'normal,' which is basically a ringing endorsement because I primarily use a 4K webcam (which Slack compresses). Apple's A16 chip delivers a performance boost This iPad has proved a stellar part of my days and nights during this past week. While I've been at work, I've kept it open next to me with Messages, Mail and one other app (sometimes Todoist for my productivity, other times Safari for my social media) open at the same time. I was able to juggle those, along with Apple's Photos and Notes apps, without a smidge of a hiccup or stutter. Gaming on the 11th-generation iPad also worked well, at least for mobile titles. The modestly demanding but massively addictive Balatro card game ran super smoothly, and the iPad also did a fine job with the 3D adventure game Genshin Impact. Everything looked correct as my characters ran around the woods and I switched between sword and bow-and-arrow attacks. Just don't expect the big AAA games that have been announced for iPads and Macs to run on this basic iPad: the recent Resident Evil and Death Stranding ports require an M-series chip, so they're exclusive to the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The A16 chip also delivered great scores on the Geekbench 6 benchmark tests, beating pricier tablets such as the Google Pixel Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ and Microsoft Surface Pro 2024. Interestingly, though, the 11th-generation iPad's single-core score on that test — which measures performance in less-demanding, everyday apps — is basically within the margin of error of what we saw from the iPad Air M2. Sure, Apple's already updated that model with faster internals with the iPad Air M3, but it's great to see an A-series chip hold its own in any way against Apple's brawny M-series silicon. Decent battery life Expect decent battery life from the new iPad. When I ran our battery test on the 11th-generation iPad, draining it of a full charge by playing a looping 4K video at 50% brightness with Airplane mode on), it got a perfectly reputable score that was just north of 11 hours. That iPad time compares very well against similar slates: 1.5 hours longer than the Google Pixel Tablet and nearly an hour longer than the latest iPad Air. The current iPad Mini only lasted 24 minutes longer, which is basically within the margin of error. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ lasted more than three hours longer, but that's to be expected when it's a larger tablet that has more room for battery. Anecdotally, I'd say you can get two days of serious use out of this iPad before it needs to charge. I was down to only 54% after eight hours of use that consisted of work, gaming and three hours of streaming video. Twice as much storage as before There's one other specs boost under the hood, as the 11th-generation iPad now starts at 128GB of storage. This is an overdue doubling of its previous 64GB minimum, especially when Apple's marketing continues to promote games like Genshin Impact that take up well over 30GB of space. On top of that, just logging into my iCloud account meant my Photos library would sync up, and that alone took up more than 32GB. That's all the argument I need to make for why it's good Apple's moved to 128GB by default. No longer will you have to pay a higher price merely to avoid a flurry of 'Storage Almost Full' alerts. Apple's entry-level iPad is still pricey compared to the field While the $349 iPad is the least-expensive Apple tablet, you don't have to spend much time to find similarly sized tablets that cost notably less. Amazon's Fire Max 11 is $230, Lenovo's 10.1-inch Tab is $200 and Samsung's Galaxy Tab A9+ is $220. The price gaps grow far greater if you look at smaller tablets, such as the $60 Amazon Fire 7. This isn't to say I want Apple to make a tablet like the Fire 7, which is much slower and of lower build quality. I merely want to see iPadOS get out from under the hefty $349 minimum barrier of entry. This iPad is not meant for the sun or the bright lights Aside from price, my biggest frustration with the 11th-generation iPad is that it can be a bit too glossy depending on your situations. That's because its screen still doesn't have the anti-reflective coating Apple uses in all its other (more expensive) iPads. I saw this flaw for myself while enjoying AMC's macabre drama 'Interview with the Vampire,' which has a suitably dark color palette. This meant I had to raise the iPad's brightness and keep it pointed away from nearby lights to get the optimal visibility. If you buy the iPad with cellular 5G capabilities (and not just Wi-Fi) to use it out and about, you might find yourself running from your reflection and looking for some shade. That's exactly what happened to me when I brought the iPad out on a sunny day in Manhattan's High Line park, where my reflection nearly obscured the showtimes of movies playing at my local theater. Apple Pencil support is here, but other iPad features are absent Unfortunately, you still may need a decoder ring to figure out which Apple Pencil works with your iPad. The good news is that the 11th-generation iPad works with both the original Apple Pencil and the new Apple Pencil with USB-C, which are the historically cheaper options — just like this iPad. That said, I do wish the pricier Apple Pencil Pro and second-generation Apple Pencil also worked with this iPad. The annoying news, though, is that you can't charge an Apple Pencil when you magnetically snap it to one side of the tablet — which is how the iPad Mini, Air and Pro work. Instead, you plug in a charging cable (either USB-C or Lightning, depending on how old the stylus is). Another arguably big missing feature is Stage Manager, which enables a desktop-like interface where your apps exist as floating windows. Those trying to make their iPad double as a laptop might see this as a reason to upgrade to the iPad Air, which also works with Apple's Magic Keyboard. Want a smoother screen or facial recognition? You'll need an iPad Pro for those perks, though you do get some biometric security on the 11th-generation iPad with Touch ID fingerprint recognition. Oh, and you can't run the generative AI features found in Apple Intelligence on this iPad, though that makes me like it more. After a week letting the iPad take the wheel for a lot of what I'd normally do on my laptop or phone, I'm happy to say that even Apple's entry-level tablet offers a pretty good (if not great) experience. So, while I will argue that a more-affordable iPad should exist, there's nothing that bad about this one, as should be the case when we're talking about a $350 gadget that's either the second- or third-most-important screen in your living room. At the end of the day, I'd argue that the vast majority of those who want a tablet should probably get the basic iPad. Only those looking to sync text messages with an Android device or desire a windowed app experience really need to look elsewhere. What is the best way to pair an Apple Pencil to an iPad 11? You'll want to connect your Apple Pencil physically to the USB-C port at the bottom of your iPad. Either way, you'll need a USB-C cable (one came with your 11th-generation iPad), and those with a first-generation Apple Pencil (which has the shiny ring near the butt of the stylus) will need Apple's USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter. Then, you slide down the cap on the end of the Apple Pencil to reveal the USB-C port on the newer Apple Pencil or the Lightning port on the end of the first Apple Pencil. If you have the older Apple Pencil, you plug the USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter into the Lightning port. Now, connect the USB-C cable to both the Pencil and the iPad, and follow the on-screen prompts. How big is the screen of the iPad 11? The 11th-generation iPad's LED screen measures 11 inches diagonally, with a 2360-by-1640 resolution. Does the iPad 11 support wireless charging? No, the 11th-generation iPad doesn't support wireless charging. No iPads offer such a feature. CNN Underscored editors thoroughly test all the products in our testing guides, and we take tablets just as seriously as we do laptops and all other tech. We're made up of a skilled team of editors and writers who provide full transparency about our testing methodology for our product reviews. Electronics writer Henry T. Casey has been testing tablets for more than a decade, having tried everything from the chunkiest kids' tablet to the priciest iPad Pro. He's seen plenty of tablets turn into doorstops and paperweights over the years and wants to make sure you love the one you buy.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Paramount to slash 3.5% of US staff in latest round of cuts: ‘Hard, but necessary'
Paramount Global is laying off 3.5% of its US workforce in the latest round of cuts as the media giant struggles with steep declines in cable TV subscribers, the company said Monday. The move follows a 15% reduction last year as part of a $500 million cost cutting plan. The company ended 2024 with 18,600 employees worldwide. Paramount Global's current leadership: Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks, Shari Redstone and Brian Robbins. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures Co-Chief Executive Officers George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins wrote in a staff memo that the cuts come as the company 'navigates the continued industry-wide linear declines' while 'prioritizing' its streaming business. 'We are taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization starting this week,' the executives said in the memo. 'These changes are necessary to address the environment we are operating in and best position Paramount for success,' they added. The execs said the layoffs will impact the US but it could also stretch to the workforce outside the US overtime. Paramount, which is home to Paramount Pictures, CBS News, MTV and Showtime, is awaiting its $8.4 billion merger with Skydance Media to get the greenlight from regulators. The deal is currently in limbo as Paramount lawyers are in mediation talks to settle President Trump's $20 billion lawsuit. Paramount is currently in talks to settle President Trump's lawsuit over '60 Minutes'' Kamala Harris interview. Bloomberg via Getty Images The suit, which Trump filed in October against CBS News, alleged that its '60 Minutes' program deceptively edited its sitdown with then-vice president Kamala Harris. CBS has claimed no wrongdoing. The Federal Communications Commission — which will ultimately decide if the Skydance deal goes through — is also probing the matter. Paramount owner Shari Redstone has pressed for the company to resolve the matter with Trump.
