Michelle tied the knot with President Barack Obama 18 years ago and the First Lady says you need more than love to make your marriage survive — and raise kids!

Michelle Obama, 47, wants you to know that marriage is a “hard road.” The First Lady appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on May 2 for an hour-long special and she told viewers that getting married isn’t a fairy tale.“It has to be a true partnership and you have to really like and respect the person you are married to,” she says with President Obama sitting next to her. “It is a hard road. Don’t expect it to be easy. Melding two lives, and trying to raise others, and doing it forever — I mean, that’s a recipe for disaster.”

Michelle, who has two daughters, Sasha and Malia, with the president, says she doesn’t believe that love is enough of a reason to wed.

“There are highs and lows. But in the end you have to be able to look him in the eye and say, ‘I like you!’ I stopped believing in love at first sight. You go through that wonderful love stage, but when it gets hard you need a little bit more.”

— Chloe Melas