Barack Obama Couldn't Assemble a Lamp While Moving Malia Into Her College Dorm

Good thing Michelle was there!

In the premiere of David Letterman’s new, six-episode Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, former president Barack Obama spoke candidly on a wide range of issues, including what it was like to move oldest daughter Malia into college in September—an upsetting experience he's previously likened to "open heart surgery."

According to Time, Obama, 56, recalled the day when he and the rest of the family moved Malia into her freshman year digs at Harvard, and how Malia, sensing his profound discomfort, stepped in and suggested that he, the two-time leader of the free world, help her put together a lamp.

“I was basically useless. Everyone had seen me crying and misting up for basically the previous three weeks, so Malia, who’s very thoughtful, she goes, ‘Dad, you know, I’ve got this lamp in this box, could you put the desk lamp together?’ I said, ‘Sure.’" he told Letterman.

"It should have taken five minutes or three minutes and it had one of those little tools," Obama continued. "It only had like four parts and I’m just sitting there, toiling at this thing for half an hour and meanwhile, Michelle has finished scrubbing and she’s organizing closets and I was just pretty pathetic.”

Obama went on to divulge how he's fared since, and admitted that technology has helped considerably, adding that he and Malia text on an almost daily basis. All the heart emojis she sends him don't hurt either!