Barak Obama's Teenage Woes

BARACK OBAMA has opened up about family life in the White House confessing that, while he runs the country, he's not in charge behind closed doors.

Taking a cool third place behind wife Michelle (who he revealed comes first) and his teenage daughters Malia, 17, and Sasha, 14, (who are "constantly wrestling for second place") although "ahead of the dogs", the American president insists he doesn't mind taking a back seat, and that includes his teenagers' social lives.

Barack with daughters Malia and Sasha
Picture credit: Getty

"You get these teenage moments - they love you, but what I think really affects you most is they just don't have time for you," he explained to US GQ, who named him Man of the Year, reports People. "It's not an active disdain for you. It's just their calendars start filling up and they've got all these friends who are much more interesting." He is however willing to bide his time when it comes to competing for their affections.

"The golden age is between, say, six, seven, and 12, and they're your buddies and they just want to hang out. And after that, they will love you, but they don't have that much time for you," he said candidly. "And my understanding is, based on friends of mine who have older kids, is that with a little bit of luck, as long as you're not so completely annoying during these teenage years, they'll come back to you around 23, 24, and actually want to hang out with you. But that stretch is painful." There is a plus side however, according to Obama.

"The compensation you get for the fact that they don't have time for you is: Nothing beats watching your children become smarter and cooler than you are. And you suddenly will hear them say something or make a joke or have an insight and you go, 'Wow. I didn't think of that.'"