When it comes to watching his teenage daughters mature, President Barack Obama is experiencing his own share of growing pains.
Nearing the finish line of his final term in office, the 54-year-old commander in chief, who is GQ's cover star for its 20th Anniversary Men of the Year issue, dished on how he manages the dynamics of his evolving relationship with his children, who have been growing up before America's eyes.
"My daughters are amazing girls. They're smart, they're funny. They take after their mom, and Michelle's done a great job with them" Obama told GQ of his two children, Malia Obama, 17, and Sasha Obama, 14. "You get these teenage moments—they love you, but what I think really affects you most is they just don't have time for you. It's not an active disdain for you. It's just their calendars start filling up and they've got all these friends who are much more interesting."
"You just have to let go, you have to acknowledge that if you say to them, 'Hey, you want to go watch this movie?' or 'Hey, you want to go take a swim at the pool?' 'No, sorry, Daddy. I love you, though. See you tomorrow, 'cause I'm spending the night at somebody's house.' The golden age is between, say, 6, 7, and 12, and they're your buddies and they just want to hang out," he admitted.
"After that, they will love you, but they don't have that much time for you. And my understanding is, based on friends of mine who have older kids, is that with a little bit of luck, as long as you're not so completely annoying during these teenage years, they'll come back to you around 23, 24, and actually want to hang out with you. But that stretch is painful."
While the teenage years can be tricky to navigate and at times, entirely frustrating, the president acknowledges no matter the generational disconnect between him and his daughters at the moment, there is much to admire from a distance.
"The compensation you get for the fact that they don't have time for you is: Nothing beats watching your children become smarter and cooler than you are and you suddenly will hear them say something or make a joke or have an insight and you go, 'Wow. I didn't think of that,'" Obama said.
Moreover, as the White House continues to develop its digital team, his daughters have been a direct source of inspiration.
"Both are complete ninjas on the phone, right? And they can do things that I don't even understand—they're doing it in two seconds. But I even see a difference between Malia, who's 17, and Sasha, who's 14. There's almost a mini-generational gap in terms of Sasha being so connected seamlessly to this smartphone in a way that Malia, who was already a little bit older when it really started to take, is not," he observed.
While Obama admits that his presidency was "too late" adapting to growing forms of social media, he has focused on catching the office up. "In some ways we're just laying the foundation for what I assume will be the standard practice of future presidents," he said.
One thing Obama would rather not focus on is the idea of his daughters going on dates. When asked if anyone has come to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to pick up Malia for a night out on the town, he replied, "No, but I've seen some folks glancing at her in ways that made me not happy." Yikes!
When he's not busy monitoring his daughter's admirers, the president does admit he indulges in a bit of "lame" TV.
"Probably the guiltiest pleasure—and this is kind of lame—is Big Break. You know, on the Golf Channel? Which is kind of a silly show, but I find it really relaxing," he revealed. "I do love Game of Thrones...my favorite character is probably…the dwarf, what's his name?"
While the president admits his GoT recall is a bit lacking, he's certain that none of the characters can really compare to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"I don't think any of them rise to that level," he said.
GQ's Men of the Year issue will be available on newsstands nationwide on Nov. 24.