The Top 10 Ways Parents Embarrass Their Kids
No matter how cool you may THINK you are, and no matter how cool you ACTUALLY might be...your kids still think you're the least cool person on Earth.
A new survey asked kids between eight and 17 years old to name the most embarrassing things their parents do. This list is pretty much inter-changeable, but here's the Top 10:
10. Teasing me about a boy or girl. This is pretty standard for a parent. Good luck prying ANY information out of them!
9. Yelling at me. This depends on the age of the child. Yelling at a 3-year old running through a store is one thing, "calling out" your teenager in public, probably could be handled better.
8. Hugging and kissing me. This is probably more of a Mom thing. It should probably be "dialed back" a little if your child's friends are around.
7. Passing gas. This is probably more of a Dad thing. (lol) If dear ole' Dad clears the room full of teenagers, that's bad. But, I always say, if you let a really good one,
(loud and reverberates through the room) you might as well "own it"! The humiliation of your child has already happened, so you might as well, get every little bit of enjoyment out of it! So throw in a little dance to go with it and maybe slap some "high fives". Trust me, deep down, most kids think farting is hysterical!
6. Trying to act cool or young. An example here is; have you noticed that teenage girls wear socks WITH sandles or "slides"? So, when kids do it, it's cool, and when Dad's do it, it's embarrassing? Whatever....
5. Making me do things I don't want to do. Insisting that kids do their homework is one thing. But, "pick your battles" when their friends are around.
4. Being overly protective or attentive. In this world that we live in, I don't think you can be too overly protective or attentive, you just have to be more "sly" about it when their friends are near.
3. Thinking they're funny when they're not. Wait! I'm not funny? My wife laughs at all my jokes. In fact, I laugh at all my jokes!
2. Acting weird or, quote, "being silly." See #3 - I'd like to think that they're laughing deep down inside, they just don't want to show it in front of their buddies.
1. Telling people stories about me or showing them pictures of me. As a parent, there's nothing like re-telling a story from when one of your kids did something "cute" or "funny" when they were younger. However, no one carries around "billfold" pictures anymore, so this may have decreased a little.
Some of the other responses included:
*Singing & Dancing - I think the kids have us on this one!
*PDA - ewwwwww!!!
*Nicknames - one of my favorite things to do is give my daughter's friends nicknames....the lamer the nickname, the better!
I thought of a few more to add to the list:
*Parents who struggle with their smartphones in front of their friends. - You know, that awkward moment, when you're trying to take pictures of them, and you can't figure out how to work the camera on your phone. We've all done it. Worse yet, you still have a "flip phone"!
*Social Media - If you have a hard time figuring out Facebook (ask your kid, Facebook stopped being cool a lonnng time ago) or if you call them by the wrong names, for instance, instead of calling it "Snapchat" or "Instagram", you mix and match and say "Snapgram"...or "Instachat".
*Watching old TV shows - Parents try this...."Hey (child's name and child's friend's name) do you wanna watch MASH with us?" - see how that goes over...
*Listening to YOUR music - "yahhh crank up some AC/DC woo hooooo!" The complaints will come out fast and furious. Just change it to the radio station they like, and don't even try. P.S. refrain from playing any "air guitar" when friends are in the house.
*Bad driver - There's nothing like having the family van full of kids, and proceeding to get lost taking them home, missing turns, rolling through stop signs, etc...
*Athleticism (or not) - Trying to show off your athletic prowess and you end up falling down, turning an ankle or just hurting yourself in general.
*Bad fashion choices -- so apparently, jean shorts or "jorts" aren't cool anymore? NEVER, wear them in public? Ok, I get it.
*Using their lingo - Note to parents: do NOT walk in the room and say "this party is LIT!!!"...believe me, the sight of a dozen sets of teenager's eyes all rolling at the same time could set off your vertigo.
And the last thing that parents do to embarrass their kids?
*Interacting with their friends in general. - Save yourself the ridicule, the next time your kid has friends over, just go hide in the bathroom.
For what it's worth, 5% of kids said their parents don't do ANYTHING embarrassing. I would like to think that's what my 2 daughters would say...yah I'm gonna go with that, whatever makes me feel better. Right?