Summary

Obama navigated her new life as a mother and returned to work part-time, but struggled to find a balance between her roles, and in her family. Even with a caregiver for the child, with Barack frequently away and work responsibilities beyond what she could accomplish in a part-time role, she struggled. Soon, their second daughter was born. Obama took a new job in community relations at the University of Chicago hospital, and found herself emphasizing some of her duties at home over taking on additional responsibilities at work. As their lives grew increasingly hectic, the Obamas went to marriage counseling.

Barack also experienced his first, very public critique as a politician: He missed an important vote in the state legislature because Malia was too sick to fly home from Hawaii. In her recounting of the incident, Obama emphasizes how important it...