How can I NOT be an embarrassing parent?!!

lallysmum

Whenever a boy called me at home, my dad would pick up the extension and sing "I just called to say I love you" down it, often getting my 4 brothers to provide the backing track. At the time I hated him, and wanted the ground to swallow me up.. now I do similar things to dd (16)

I consider it one of the benefits of being a parent to a stroppy teen.

Kaz2904

I remember the time that my mother and step father happened to be driving down the road early on a Wednesday afternoon. We had a half day from school and I was surrounded by around 100 students in school uniform (visible as it was warm). Cue car screeching up beside my friend and I. Mother (drunk) getting out and shouting at me for skiving ( conversation went "kaz2904 why aren't you at school." "Errr, half day, remember the letter?" "Get in the car, I can't believe you're not in school."
At which point I got into the car, I had kind of legged it over to try and stop anyone hearing but oh boy, they heard. Best bit? My sister arriving home home 20 minutes later (still a way before school time and actually bang on school finish and walk home time). Didn't get me out of the !!!! but I knew I wasn't skiving.
Remember, parents can be bas..... Too.

Seanymph

Yesterday I was out with ED (19) shopping, and without thinking really held her hand to cross the road. She laughed and said 'you used to embarrass me mum, but not any more, I am over you.'

Fatal.

By the second round of 'Jingle Bells', loud and out of tune in the supermarket she hissed 'shut UP mum,' and walked off in front.

I still have it


I have five kids and step kids, youngest now 16 - if we didn't tease them slightly I think we'd have knifed them by now, truly. Humour keeps us alive - keeps them laughing at each other - and sometimes teaches them something without having to lecture (even if it's don't come supermarket shopping with mum - well, it makes it more expensive )

Truly, just laugh at him - or say rubbish like 'I can't afford new shoes so I was saving the sole by not allowing you to walk - your lucky the car was working or I'd have been giving you a piggy back'. They just mutter something about you being 'really weird mum' and wander off generally if you start spouting rubbish.

sassyblue

meritaten wrote: »

so, you embarrass the teens! its payback for all the times they embarrassed YOU when they were little! Dont you remember the time they loudly asked why the lady in the supermarket was so fat? or calling strange men 'Daddy'? or picking thier nose at table in that nice restaurant (and even worse then blowing thier nose in the napkin!)
I consider it my duty to embarass the offspring - tho I can't with my DD as she has the same sense of humour as me, and cracks up laffing!

So true. I tell my 6yo now that when I'm old I'm going to whinge, pick my nose and pee my pants when he takes me out like he did me.

heartbreak_star

Haha thankfully me and my mum always had the same sense of humour. If we lost each other in town she'd bellow "Come here while I hit you" and I'd always find her

She was also a good judge of clothes - she was a rocker as a young 'un and I followed in her footsteps. She's even mellowed about my tattoos as we've got older.

Also, it used to be just her singing Christmas carols in the shopping centre in July. Now it's both of us we're practising!

HBS x

missprice

Seanymph wrote: »

Yesterday I was out with ED (19) shopping, and without thinking really held her hand to cross the road. She laughed and said 'you used to embarrass me mum, but not any more, I am over you.'

Fatal.

By the second round of 'Jingle Bells', loud and out of tune in the supermarket she hissed 'shut UP mum,' and walked off in front.

I still have it

.

I used to sing really loud and badly to drown out the whiny noises or the fighting from my 2 when they were younger
I also loved to go to school mass thing and smile broadly and wave at mine especially if they were up on stage for an award, then I would stage whisper useless witless pratty sayings so everyone could hear.
When mine show signs of being a bit bothered by me I will meet up after work and chase them around shouting 'come ere darlin I wanna give you a snog and a cuddle'

You have just gotta laugh at them til they grow out of it
after all the older you get the less you care about what others think so you will in theory always embarrass them

with luck:)

System

I love shopping trips with my kids (not).

My daughter looks me up and down before she is seen to be out with me.

My son, well he walks two steps in front of me (and tries to hide his headphones under his long hair however we have reached a compromise - one earphone in, the nearest earphone to me out).

Both kids would rather curl up and die than let me hold their arm.

However, all is not lost. When i accompanied my eldest son to the GP's surgery a few weeks ago he grabbed my arm as we were about to cross the road......Jeez do i look that decrepid?

sibles

Probably don't skip around the shopping centre - my parents did that on a few occasions!
Also, don't pretend to be a busker (dad) or show passers by the food you are eating in your mouth on picnic (mum and dad) or ask a scout if you can have some of his ice cream cos they won't buy one for you (mum)!

I love these stories now, but then.....

custardy

missindecisive wrote: »

I mean...I would hate to be the source of embarrassment to my teenager , but today I was !:eek:

I merely picked him up from school in the car...he was walking home with his girlfriend (whom I have met before a couple of times)
He was annoyed with me. ! He got in the car and said " you just had to do that , didn't you ?"

We got home and I explained that I wasn't out to embarrass him, merely to give him a lift home (it is a long walk)

Needless to say he's not happy with me! LOL

What should I be doing? Or more to the point- what should I not be doing?
ADVICE PLEEEESE!!!!!!! LOL.:rotfl:

Dont fight it,embrace it as a skill

System

If the aim is to shame them further.... lingering around the outside of a charity shop will do the trick. Just to look in the general direction is enough for me to get given the 'evils'.