... she may well decide to resign from the position of First Lady, take the children, divorce the President, and go back to her old job as a hospital executive, if she really likes it so much.

However I would not bet the shop on that, and it may be that the chance to influence the history of the whole world by whispering sweet counsels into the ear of her husband will win out.

Did you coin that? Because I think it's a winner!

that Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton just discussed parenting while they were together. They MUST have discussed how Michelle would cope with being First Lady, given that she comes from a similar mold to Hillary's. Maybe Hillary advised her to lay low...

One of the central tenets of feminism is that each woman is entitled to choose her path. Work? Motherhood? Both at the same time, or perhaps in a sequence?

Michelle Obama had significant input into Barack's decision to run for President. If she hadn't been on board, he would not have pursued the race. Both of them clearly knew that if he won, there would be life-altering consequences and tremendous adaptation needed from each other and for their children. They chose to proceed. She chose to ease their girls' transition. GIVE HER A BREAK!

Michelle Obama is making a mature and compassionate choice. And being the First Lady IS a job, and one that she will no doubt bring her wonderful background to. She will have a platform that she can use to put forth an agenda of her choice. Not too shabby--and quite possibly a career advance.

I haven't heard this perspective about Michelle Obama before, or at least not written in this thoughtful of a way. Nice work.

It seems if she wants to keep working as a hospital executive she'd be able to. Successful two career couples relocate all the time without one retiring.

Hyper compressed strum und drang at a situation that doesn't even exist yet. The word projection comes to mind.

I think you seriously underestimate Michelle, in fact it's almost appalling how weak and pathetic you portray her. Better get ready to write that article on how she has redefined the role of First Lady.

This article sounds a chord: though I'm a conservative, and one who didn't vote Bamalot in, I've felt some discomfort at the way Michelle Obama has been boxed in. Ironically, Sarah Palin has more independence.

Womens' equality should be something bipartisan, something taken for granted in both parties; and yet they're not. The liberal illuminati, or the old Republican white guys: they both need to practice what they preach (or should preach).

I've enjoyed watching Michelle's fashion choices as much as anyone, but I've also wondered - what does she do? What's her career? Are there any "issues" she's passionate about, like Hillary's health care, or Palin's children with disabilities?

I know of no clause in the Constitution that specifies the duties of a "First Lady," nor indeed even mentions such a creature. It isn't a job, a duty, or even a role, it is some kind of pseudo royalist fantasy really.

I for one would be very happy indeed to see Ms. Obama return to practicing law and sitting on boards and making a ton thereby; had things been otherwise, what would the expectations on Bill Clinton been? I see nothing in law or nature that preclude the spouse of a president from pursuing a career. I sure hope she does.

Mostly, I feel a bit sorry for her. She could have been so much more than consort, whose only power comes from pillow talk. I hope to god she can find some way out of the box everybody is so desperately putting her into.

...but do I gather that it has become Officially Okay once again to play an important political role while raising children?

Michelle Obama has already done one of the hardest thing that faces working moms -- balancing a two-demanding-careers marriage with two young kids. She did it, she did it great, and she only chose to back off of her legal/administrative career under the most extraordinary of circumstances -- a presidential race. She took a leave from her job; that suggests she expected to go back to U of C Hospitals and Clinics if the candidacy didn't succeed.

It isn't as if she took off from her career to get totally mommed -- she undertook a demanding role in the presidential race herself. And being the First Lady is clearly a tough job on its own. Which leaves her back where she started -- balancing a two-demanding-careers marriage with two young children.

I for one -- as a working mom of two similarly-aged daughters-- applaud her and her family for making such a big deal about how important their children are and how they have to plan their lives to accommodate them. I am a feminist and I am not just a mom, but I AM a parent, and everything else in my life aligns around that fact. I think a real problem for families in America today is the make-believe that somehow working people don't have kids.

I think it is disingenuous to act as if Michelle Obama is retiring to be "just a mom." Obviously she is going to be doing a lot more than that. She doesn't have to continue to be a hospital administrator to prove that to anyone. She is going to have a bully pulpit all her own, a unique and powerful one. She also has unique responsibilities thanks to her husband's new job. She also has responsibilities to her children that are unique to this job. It isn't like Barack Obama's the new account manager for the DC office of some corporation, he's the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD!

Right now the media is adoring her for all the mom/wife/family stuff. Well, let them, and let them adore her just as much in another year when she is using her new job as a way to expand her ambitions for community service. Just because she is a high-powered executive doesn't mean she can't be concerned with stereotyped "feminine" activities. And just because they are stereotyped doesn't mean they aren't important.