I know that dozens of people are probably working on the promotion of Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, but it actually feels sort of low-key? Like, Michelle isn’t begging anybody to read the book. She’s like “the book is there if you’d like to read it, but I get that a lot is going on, so I’ll understand if you don’t get to it.” She’s been doing lots of interviews, and here she is on the cover of People Magazine, but even then… it doesn’t feel like overkill? It just feels chill. MO 2018 is very chill, about a lot of things. She’s even chill about her babies growing up and leaving the nest and all that. Some highlights from this People cover story:

She’s still not anonymous: “We don’t have the anonymity that allows you to be in the world with normalcy. I go to restaurants, I still work out and travel, but I can’t sit at a sidewalk cafe and just watch other people without it becoming a scene.”

She’s not going to wear a disguise: “Then somebody’s gonna say, ‘What’s Michelle doing in that wig and those glasses?’ So I think a disguise would only backfire. I’d be in some tabloid magazine: ‘What’s she trying to do—what’s wrong with her? That’s crazy!’”

The Secret Service won’t let her drive either: “No driving for me. We still live in a bubble. If we had a farm somewhere, maybe I could drive around it,” she explains, but acknowledges that the package bomb discovered on Oct. 24 in her husband’s mail drove home the need for continued security. “As we’ve seen, the risks are still there.”

Her emptying nest: “That’s the rub of teenagers — they’re bumping up against the limits of where they are because they’re ready for the next thing. That’s how I feel with my girls: if they are ready for college, then I want them to go and I’m happy for them. I’ve got an initiative, I’ve got a book, I’ve got a husband I can see again.” She says she is not weepy over Malia and Sasha leaving home “because I also have the resources that if I really get sad, I’ll go see them. Unlike my parents, who dropped me off at college and just had a phone call, I text with my kids. I can text [Malia] right this second and know exactly what she’s thinking. I don’t feel like she’s away, I feel like she’s off on her next adventure, so I’m excited about her. “I don’t need my children to make me happy. I had them so that they’d be happy.”

[From People Magazine]

I’m surprised she’s so chill about Malia and Sasha leaving home. I guess she’s right about being able to stay in touch with them and see them a lot, but still – those are her babies. She’s like, “bye kids, have fun, I’ve got a lot of other stuff to do.” As for not being able to people-watch and just be anonymous… yeah, I would miss that too, just as I would really miss driving. I’m actually a little bit surprised that they don’t let her drive, not even just around DC a little bit, like down to the grocery store or something. Hm.

Here’s a bit Michelle did with Ellen DeGeneres.

Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of People.