One of my
first real memories of my dad was when I was in preschool and I would be
brought to his office until he finished work. At the time, he was a city
councilman in Baltimore, Md., and I'd sit waiting for session to be over. I
remember feeling proud of him, but at 4, I really didn't know what he was
doing. It just seemed like he was important.

My
childhood was different from my friends. Both of my parents were really busy
with their careers. But my friends' moms didn't work, so they'd be home when
they got home from school. Sometimes, I was really envious, like when there
were field trips for school. My friends would say, "My mom is going to be
a chaperone. Maybe your mom can be one, too!" And I'd be thinking my mom
had to go to trial that day–she was a lawyer then and now she's a judge–so
that wasn't going to happen. And my dad was pretty busy, too. He was elected
mayor of Baltimore when I was 7 and then last year, he became the governor of
Maryland. So I guess that's pretty different, too.

KEEPIN'
IT REAL … OR TRYING!

Because of
my dad's position, there have been some fairly embarrassing moments for me,
like when my teachers in elementary school would go around the class and ask,
"What does your dad do for a living?" I'd say, "He's the
mayor," and everyone was like, "What?" Then they'd ask a few
questions about it and it would blow over and everything would go back to normal.
It was pretty hilarious, though.

Fortunately,
I've never had any awkward moments with my friends about my dad. They're really
supportive, but I think it's that they care about me, not about my father. I
mean, I don't think kids really care what your dad does! Maybe some have tried
to be friends with me because of who he is, but I've never noticed that. Even
so, I guess it's pretty natural that people would be curious. I know I would
be.

I had a
great childhood with my two younger brothers (William and Jack) and my older
sister, Grace. It's surprising to me that my life has been so normal,
considering the situation. There have been some hard times though, since my dad
is always in the newspaper and on the news. That may sound exciting, but in
truth it's weird seeing people on TV criticizing your dad on a daily basis. I
feel like saying, "Hey, you don't understand!" I know my dad is
trying to help people, because that's the kind of guy he is. But as a kid it
gets frustrating because there's nothing you can do about it.

If I was
on the outside, I would imagine the life of a politician's daughter to be super
glamorous—with limos and private planes—but it's not at all like that. Well, I
guess aside from living in a mansion and having our own chef. We don't have a
chauffeur, but we do have to have a state trooper that drives us around. So
far, I haven't had any problems with the troopers intruding on my dates, but
they do have to drive me to the guy's house since I don't have my license. I
can imagine it's a little intimidating for guys to have a trooper show up on
your date.

There are
some nice perks to being the governor's daughter, like I can go on trips. But I
don't really like the tons of receptions we constantly have to have at our
house. On the positive side, we definitely have good food around all the time.

The best
perk, though, is when I'm shopping at a store and they see my last name. The
salesperson will get excited and say, "Wait! Is your dad Governor
O'Malley? He's so great!" I love hearing that since I think my dad gets
too much grief from people. It's good to know people love him and support what
he's doing. I just feel so proud of him when that happens.

Since
middle school, I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in subjects like
social studies, because I worry that it would look bad for my dad if I screw up
in classes like that. My parents have never pressured me though, and they never
told us how to behave in public–except I do remember my dad saying, "You
have to look people in the eye and shake their hands when I introduce
you," but I think it's a really polite thing to do anyway.

THE GOOD,
THE BAD AND THE FUNNY

There
have been times when I wished my dad had a "normal" job, but I really
can't see him doing anything else. He's so good at what he does. Since my dad
is always in the public eye, I can't help but get a little embarrassed by some
of the things he does. For example, he has always been the singer for a local
rock band. It's just totally weird seeing my dad onstage in his jeans and his
muscle tee and I'm like, "My gosh, Dad! Please!"—especially since I
was 13. And it's not even my kind of music! Maybe if he sounded like John
Mayer….

What's
great about my dad is that he's not always serious. He just loves to kid around.
For example, he's unbelievably good at doing impersonations of famous
people—although I don't want to say who he does, it might come back to haunt
him. But I guess it's safe to say that he does a hilarious Johnny Bravo from
the Cartoon Network.

ONWARD
AND UPWARD

It's nice
to hear that people had suggested that my dad would have made a good vice
president, but that was kind of scary to me because it seemed so huge! And
honestly, I wouldn't have wanted to move again, because I would have hated missing
prom and graduating with my friends. I do think my dad would make a great
president one day, but it's already pretty strange living in the governor's
mansion and having people around all the time. I can't even imagine what it
would be like living in the White House. Even so, if my dad did decide to run
for president of the United States, I wouldn't get in the way of that.

I'm
really not that different from any other teen. I'm just a normal kid whose dad
happens to be in the public eye. Even though our life is kind of hectic, I feel
so blessed to have such an amazing family. Still, I don't think I'd ever go
into politics, because it's like, "Been there, done that!" But I know
that whatever career I choose, my parents will be behind me.

No matter
what kind of work they did for a living, I would always love my parents. Being
the governor's daughter doesn't make my life better than someone else's—in
fact, there are definitely a few downsides. I just think that no matter what
your parents do, it's up to each girl to make her life exciting and special all
on her own.