( CNN ) -- Barack Obama 's daughters are moving into a house with a swimming pool , a bowling alley and its own movie theater . Sasha Obama , left , and Malia Obama will make the White House home come January 20 . When their father is inaugurated on January 20 , Malia Obama , 10 , and Sasha Obama , 7 , will also be moving into a place where they 'll not only be under the watchful eye of the Secret Service but also under the eye of the media . `` One of the negatives of the White House is that its very much a fishbowl , '' presidential historian Doug Wead said . `` There 's something that Sasha or Malia will say or do and they 'll be remembered for it for the rest of their lives , '' said Wead , who wrote `` All the Presidents ' Children , '' a book on the lives of kids at the White House . Watch what life 's like for White House kids » . Theodore Roosevelt 's children used to like to drop water balloons on foreign dignitaries , Wead said . They also let their pet snake slither around the White House dining room . John F. Kennedy Jr. was known for hiding under his father 's Oval Office desk . His older sister , Caroline , had a pony who romped untethered around the White House grounds . President Abraham Lincoln 's youngest son , Thomas , used to startle everyone in the building by making all the White House bells ring at one time . But with the mischief and pranks comes a lifetime of pressure , said Noah McCollough , who wrote the book `` First Kids . '' `` John Quincy Adams ' kids went through alcoholism and addiction because they could n't live up to their parents expectation '' in their later years , McCollough said . Read up on the blessed and star-crossed lives of some other White House kids » . Much of Malia and Sasha 's White House experience will be monitored by their mother , Michelle Obama , who seems determined to be active in their lives . Even as her husband campaigned for the presidency , Michelle Obama was a soccer mom , cheering from the sidelines of her daughters ' games . `` I 'm a mother first . And I 'm going to be at parent-teacher conferences , and ... I 'm going to be at the things that they want me to attend . I 'm not going to miss a ballet recital , '' Michelle Obama said . Together with the president-elect , she 'll have to decide where the girls will attend school . `` If they send their child to a private school they 'll be called elitist for betraying the public school system , '' Wead said . Jacqueline Kennedy , not wanting Caroline being hounded by the media as she went to school , set up a first-grade classroom on the third floor of the White House . Ten of Caroline 's friends also attended , each bringing their own lunch pail . President Jimmy Carter sent daughter Amy , age 9 when she moved to Washington , to the public Hardy Middle School . President Bill Clinton 's daughter , Chelsea , attended the private Sidwell Friends School . No matter the choice , even their grades will come under public scrutiny . `` If you flunk that huge math test , it 's on the front page of the newspaper the next day , '' McCollough said . But assuming no one gets grounded for bad grades , imagine the possibilities for sleepovers or parties . President Gerald Ford 's daughter Susan , for example , held her senior prom at the White House . Whatever the educational choice , the Obamas have made clear their kids wo n't be an afterthought now that Barack Obama is about to become the world 's most powerful person . On Friday morning , before the president-elect met with his advisers on the troubled economy and before his first news conference since the election scheduled for the afternoon , Barack and Michelle Obama went to a parent-teacher conference at the University of Chicago Lab School . And the girls will have company at the house on Pennsylvania Avenue . `` You have earned that puppy that is coming with us to the White House , '' their father told them in his acceptance speech .
Malia Obama , 10 , Sasha Obama , 7 , will be in the public eye . Comment: Flunk a test and make headlines , historian said . Pranks and mischief : Teddy Roosevelt 's kids dropped water balloons on people .