All in the family
Rest assured: If there’s a new trend or happening in Washington, D.C., it won’t be long before a think tank starts studying it.
Now that President-elect Barack Obama will be joined by his mother-in-law — Marian Robinson — in the White House, the New America Foundation’s David Gray, director of its Workforce and Family Program, is ready and able to give the wonky spin on this unique presidential living situation.
“The normal mother-in-law jokes are somewhat mitigated in this instance,” Gray told Yeas & Nays. “Obama will be gone a ton, he has a huge house and he’ll be pretty busy.” Still, “the first family’s situation, while unique in scope, is common throughout our country as a child care option for working parents.”
Gray feels especially qualified to give Obama advice on how to manage with a mother-in-law in the house; Gray’s mother-in-law has been living with his family since the recent birth of the Grays’ second child. “I can emphathize with the ups and downs of close quarters in a sleep-deprived environment. Obama’s going to have a different kind of sleep-deprived environment, since being president is no walk in the park.”
