Scoop

I used to think it took bribery to get kids to clean up their rooms ... but apparently now all it takes is a brand new President.

That's right. Kids are actually excited about cleaning up their rooms and making their beds because Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, make their own beds.

Who knew?

Parents across the country are looking to the Obama family as role models on how to raise their own children. From their chores to their bedtime to what the girls are allowed to watch on television and what they read at night, all parenting eyes are on this family.

The fascination is simple. It's because they are NORMAL. The Obamas are regular people and they are raising their daughters not to be diva snobs in a celeb-obsessed world. They are raising them to be young ladies - polite, good citizens who make their bed. And read Harry Potter and watch SpongeBob with dad. I'm quite certain that whatever type of dog they end up choosing, there'll be a fire sale of that breed as soon as it's chosen! Everybody is following their lead. Because it's a good lead to follow.

The Morning Call reports:

Parenting experts say the fact that the Obamas are the first African-American family to move to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., along with their well-known personal struggles growing up, make them even more appealing as modern-day role models.

''People just want to know everything about them,'' said Childers, a member of Chicago's Jack and Jill of America, a group aimed at fostering positive development of African-American families. ''They feel like these two people are exemplary, and they didn't come from exemplary backgrounds. So how do you take an average, ordinary family and raise an exemplary person?''

I remember on Election Day watching the Obama family vote, a mere 30 miles away from my home. Even I - someone who wasn't really an Obama fan at that point - was mesmerized. I watched Michelle and Barack as they took their daughters through the process, showed them the ballots, laughed and joked with them. It made me want to take my children to vote with me, and it also desperately made me reconsider whom I planned on voting for later that day.

Just recently, my 7-year-old son asked me whom I voted for. I said McCain. He shook his head. They had done a mock vote in first grade. He said, "Mom, I voted for Obama."

See, even he knew. But his bed remains unmade. For now.

Stephanie Elliot is Betty's Lit Lounge and Parenting editor, and she also answers your parenting questions at Just Another Manic Mommy. Visit her at manicmommy.blogspot.com or stephanieelliot.com.

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