When Your Parent's The Prez

Some people feel sorry for First Kids because of the glare of the limelight, security worries, and a continuous struggle to have a "normal life."

But don't waste time worrying about Sasha, Malia, Bridget, Meghan, Jack, Jimmy, Sidney, Doug, or Andy, because as Jocelyn Noveck of the Associate Press points out, there are definite perks to the deal, like meeting world-changers and history-makers:

"Sure, maybe a few times I wished my father was just a congressman," Susan Ford Bales, now chairman of the Betty Ford Center, said in an interview. "But in fact I wouldn't trade it for anything. The travels, the people you meet. From movie stars to heads of state. It was like, 'Oh my gosh, look who I'm meeting now!'"

Her advice to the next president and his wife: "Keep being a parent. Keep loving your children and keep being available to them." She notes that when she needed something from her parents, she could interrupt them at any time - and did. She recalled a meeting her dad was having with Henry Kissinger, then secretary of state. "I walked in and said, 'Hi, Mr. Secretary. Dad, I need my allowance and Mom doesn't have any cash.'" The leader of the free world obliged.