One more mess for Obama: cleaning up after the dog

If you think being president of the United States is all fancy travel around the world and hobnobbing with the great and famous, well, look down and see the poop. Really.

Speaking to a group of second-graders in suburban Virginia, President Obama took time out to explain that he has ups and downs and that not all of them are political. Some involve the First Dog, Bo.

“The truth is, I run around a lot in the White House, but most of the time I’m working. So it’s not like I’m just running around having fun,” the president told children at the Long Branch Elementary School in Arlington, Va. He called the White House “a beautiful building, and there’s a big yard in the back called the South Lawn.

“So a lot of times, I walk Bo at night, and that’s fun,” Obama said.”Sometimes I run around with Bo, although I have to -- sometimes I have to scoop up his poop.”

“Eeww,” the kids responded.

“Because I don’t want to just leave it in the lawn,” Obama continued. “So if you guys have a dog, you got to walk your dog too and clean up after him a little bit.”

Obama went to the school to read parts of his new children’s book, “Of Thee I Sing.”

The book is in the form of a letter to his daughters and describes the lives of 13 great people. Published by Random House Children’s Books, the illustrated volume came out in the fall. Proceeds go to a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers.

Related: Sarah Palin ‘some months’ away from any decision to seek presidency
michael.muskal@latimes.com

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal