Barack Obama Celebrates Wife Michelle on Mother's Day as Role Model to 'So Many'

Barack Obama Celebrates Wife Michelle on Mother's Day as Role Model to 'So Many'
Barack Obama Celebrates Wife Michelle on Mother's Day as Role Model to 'So Many'
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Barack Obama/Instagram From left: Michelle, Sasha, Barack and Malia Obama

Barack Obama on Sunday offered a heartfelt celebration of his wife, Michelle Obama, in honor of Mother's Day.

"Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all let the moms and mother-figures in your life know how much they mean to you," the former president wrote on Instagram. "@MichelleObama, thank you for being a wonderful mother and role model to our daughters and to so many others around the world."

Obama, 60, also posted a photo of he and the former first lady, 58, alongside their daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Michelle, meanwhile, shared her own Mother's Day tribute to her mom, Marian Shields Robinson.

"I'm so thankful for the love, guidance, and care that my mom has instilled in me. I've shared so much of her wisdom with my own daughters over the years," she wrote on Twitter and Instagram, alongside a photo with her mom and her two daughters in their younger years.

Mrs. Obama has previously spoken about how her mother set an example for the way she raised her own children.

"When we were growing up, she always gave us the space to ask questions and share our ideas," she wrote of Robinson, now 84, in a 2020 Instagram post. "And she always took us seriously, carefully considering what we had to say and responding with thoughtful questions, and plenty of encouragement."

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"All along, she was empowering us to be ourselves, kindling the unique flame burning inside each of us," Obama continued. "She laid out the blueprint for how I have raised my own girls."

Robinson, who lived with the first family while they were in the White House, appeared alongside her daughter in the Netflix documentary Becoming.

Malia and Sasha also appeared in the documentary via brief on-camera comments that were originally recorded in 2018 for a video shown at their mom's book-tour events.

"I'm excited for her to be proud of what she's done 'cause I think that's the most important thing for a human to do is be proud of themselves," Sasha said in the clip.

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Her older sister added: "No longer facing that same scrutiny, being able to let all of that leave your mind, creates so much more space."

Mrs. Obama wrote in Becoming about being empty nesters after both the couple's daughters left home for college.

RELATED: Barack Obama's Tips for Empty-Nesters: 'Cry in the Car' and 'Try to Bribe' Your Grown Kids

"Barack and I are empty-nesters," she wrote,"and that has been exhilarating: to watch the two little beans you were in charge of grow up."

As she told PEOPLE in a 2019 interview: "As a parent, one of the most important things we can give our children is the freedom to find their own way in the world. With Sasha and Malia, [we try to] honor the unique flame each of them has inside. They are their own people, and that's what I love about them. And they've got to have room to breathe and explore."