What’s the most embarrassing thing your parent(s) put you through as a child?

3 comments

1. In 7th grade, My High Schooler brother’s friends parents were hosting a get together for the kids and their families at their house before the homecoming dance. I wanted to come along, and when we got there my dad jokingly said that I should take the opportunity to make a move my brothers friends (who I barely knew). I immediately recoiled in embarrassment and told him to shut up. Apparently he didn’t get the message, because when we walked in and greeted everyone he put his hand on my shy, socially awkward shoulder in front of literally all the high school kids and parents and proclaimed “I told [my name] that she should tell [random kid] that she was crushing on him.” Everyone laughed awkwardly. I was mortified and couldn’t do much but look down at my shoes and shield my face. He still didn’t get the message and continued on “then I told her to go up to [other random kid] and tell her that she had a thing for him too.”

   I continued to just stand there until the crowd dispersed and then I began to cry. Dad was like “Oh, are you upset because of what I did?” Like he was genuinely surprised his 12 year old daughter did not enjoy being put on the spot like that. Mom took me into a dark room to calm me down. She told me later that the kids my dad implicated awkwardly remarked that they had “no idea I had a crush on them,” and she had to explain it was all a strange joke at my expense.

   I love my dad but he really fucked up there. It felt like being treated as a prop for a joke rather than as a human being (an adolescent for that matter) with feelings :/

2. I was 12-ish, and my mom took me to the doctor. Normal thing to do, I didn’t ask why because I thought it was a regular checkup. When we got there, the doctor asked me the reason for the visit. I said I had no idea. He said it’s not anything to be embarrassed about, I could talk about it. I repeated that I honestly had zero idea. This back and forth went on way too long until my mother said to me that it was about a bed wetting incident. I’ve had kidney issues my whole life, I’m not embarrassed about it, but don’t put your kid on the spot like that.

3. My mom was scatterbrained and got mixed up about when wacky hair day was.

   Needless to say it was traumatic to come into a classroom looking like cindy loo who with a beanie baby tied to my head with braids while everyone stared at me in bewilderment.

   My teacher allowed me to run home quickly. But I remember passing my brothers classroom (they were twins) and seeing their identical sheepish/angry faces with spiky red hair from the wax dye we picked up from supercuts.

   Little david bowies amongst a classroom of DC adorned skater kids.