When Chelsea Clinton was just 12 years old, her parents, Bill and Hillary Clinton, moved into the White House in 1993. However, even before becoming the daughter of a U.S. president, Chelsea had spent much of her life in the public eye. When she was born, her father was already serving as governor, and her birth made the front page of the newspaper.
Even as Bill focused on his first presidential campaign, both he and Hillary made family time a priority. Chelsea told Vogue that only three nights passed when she wasn’t with at least one of her parents. Regardless of their location or how busy they were, one parent would always fly home to spend time with her, doing everyday things like helping with homework or tucking her into bed.
Aside from ensuring Chelsea completed her schoolwork, her parents set clear boundaries for how she spent her free time. This included strict rules about movie ratings—Chelsea wasn’t allowed to watch PG-13 movies when she was younger. She once rebelled by sneaking a viewing of “Dirty Dancing.”
Feeling guilty afterward, Chelsea confessed to her parents. In the foreword of her book, Talking Back to Facebook, she revealed that knowing her parents were disappointed was worse than any punishment. For watching the movie, Chelsea was grounded, but only for a weekend.
As the family adjusted to life in the White House, her parents’ rules continued, and sometimes, they were a bit unusual.
TV Time Was Limited, But Computer Games Weren’t
While her parents closely monitored what TV shows Chelsea watched, they were also vigilant about how the media portrayed her. Hillary once contacted Saturday Night Live (SNL) to complain about a sketch that depicted Chelsea, played by Julia Sweeney. Later, SNL apologized for a different sketch that criticized Chelsea’s appearance when she was just a teenager. Bill was understandably upset, telling People in a 1992 interview, “I think you gotta be pretty insensitive to make fun of an adolescent child.”
Despite limited TV time, Chelsea had unrestricted access to computer games. She often played games like Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego for “hundreds of hours,” many of them alongside her father. One reason for this unlimited gaming time could be that Chelsea and her father both enjoyed it. In Talking Back to Facebook, Chelsea described media consumption as a “shared family experience,” much like meals in their household.
Sugary Cereal Was Off-Limits, and Pizza Was a Weekend Treat
Like most children, Chelsea had to follow food rules set by her parents. During her time in the White House, she wasn’t allowed to eat sugary cereals. To get around this, she would add large amounts of honey to her cereal—more than what would have been in pre-sweetened cereals.
In addition, pizza and desserts were reserved for the weekends. Chelsea admitted that her parents did a “frustratingly good job” of making sure she liked healthy foods because that’s all she was allowed to eat as a child.
Now, as a grandmother, Hillary is more relaxed about what her grandchildren eat. On The Graham Norton Show, Hillary joked that her mother thought pizza was okay at least a couple of times a day. While she’s a fantastic grandmother, Hillary tends to spoil Chelsea’s children, which leads to ongoing discussions between the mother and daughter.
Despite the strict rules she grew up with, Chelsea enjoys a close relationship with her mother, often joking around with her. Although she may hold a small grudge over the household rules, she recognizes that the long conversations they had during meals helped strengthen their family bond, which has lasted to this day.
