posted on February 28, 2001 07:02:57 AM
What have your kids done to embarrass you in public? Here's one story that still seems like yesterday to me.
About four years ago my son (almost 17 at the time) and I, and a friend were helping my daughter move from Maine back to PA. Along the way we stopped at a rest stop to get a bite to eat and towards the end of the meal I still had a full glass of soda sitting in front of me. My son reached across the table for something and hit my glass dumping the soda all over my lap. I jumped up from the table sputtering and was really ready to ream him out for being so clumsy when the waitress ran up to the table and my son calmly turned to her, with the straightest face and said, “Don’t mind her, she hasn’t had her medication yet today.” (No, I was not on meds.) With all the people around me staring, I just sunk back down in my chair and then burst out laughing. The little monster had so effectively diffused the situation and there was no way I could be mad at him, his comment was just too funny. I still laugh today when I think about it.
posted on February 28, 2001 07:08:51 AM
great thread! Just last night we went out for dinner and my son who is 2 1/2 (and has quite a vocabulary for his age) proceeded to tell me and the entire restaurant FULL of people that our waitress had boobs...but not as big as mine...I don't know who was more embarrassed, me or her! We left her a BIG tip! She was a good sport though...THANK GOD!
posted on February 28, 2001 07:17:32 AM
What a fun thread!
The most embarassing thing that comes to mind happened when my daughter was 5 years old and in kindergarten. She came home and showed me the "middle finger" and asked me what that gesture meant. I asked her what she thought it meant. She said that her friend told her that if you did it you would go straight to hell. I told her that she wouldn't go to hell but that it wasn't a nice gesture. She said, "I know mom... 'cause I did it all day long and I didn't go to hell." Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when the phone rang a bit later and her teacher asked for a conference. LOL
posted on February 28, 2001 07:20:55 AM
Ha Ha... Those are funny! As the mother of two kids (3yr. old girl and 4yr. old boy). I haven't really had anything embarassing...yet. There was the time that we were all eating out at a restraunt and in walked a police officer and sat down two tables behind us. The kids didn't see him but when a second officer walked in, Caitlin (3) saw him and he smiled at her. She then said out loud "Hey did you see that fireman?" Well all laughed and the other police officer asked what she said and replied that he had been called MUCH worse. So it was a very funny moment that we will remember for years to come!
posted on February 28, 2001 07:54:41 AM
My little brother was 4 years old, when Mom took him shopping all decked out in his cowboy outfit. As a treat she took him
to the soda fountain at the 5 & 10 he ordered
a root beer, which they served in a frosty
mug. He took one sip, spun around on the stool and in a voice that only a 4 year old
can muster, stated This isn't real beer!
This kid had only seen beer in a mug on TV...no one in our house drank beer.
posted on February 28, 2001 08:17:35 AM
We went on a tour of a WWII museum in the Netherlands with a group of people from the tom's squadron. We thought it would be a good experience for the kittens(silly us) and dragged them along with us.
Well, they didn't want to be there and they made sure we knew they didn't want to be there. They whined. They complained. They dragged their feet. The tom and I snarled for them to be quiet and behave themselves. They did-for a while.
The group was in the chapel, listening to the tour guide, when a friend nudged me and gestured behind us. I turned around. Both kittens were on the floor, rolling around and punching the crap out of each other.
The tom and I were mortified. He grabbed one kitten and yanked him to his feet. I grabbed the other and did the same. Then we physically hauled the kittens out of the chapel and gave them a chewing out that pinned their ears back and probably curled their hair.
It was bad enough they were physically fighting-something they NEVER did-but to be fighting in public and in a chapel of all places, was entirely unacceptable.
They spent the rest of the tour in sullen silence but there were no other incidents. They never pulled another stunt like that, either.
Oh, and they weren't little either. Elder kitten was 13, his brother 10.
posted on February 28, 2001 08:23:39 AM
Many years ago I was trying to be ever so straight with my 3-year old son in explaining to him that his male organ was not a "pickle," as his aunty called it, and told him it was a penis. My son shrugged his shoulders and went on with his little life until a day came that we were at the doctor's office. There he had been quietly studying an older gentleman for some time when he interupted my reading and asked LOUDLY if that man had a pickle or a penis?
Then there was the time we were sitting in church, heads bowed in prayer, when the doors to the downstairs Sunday School slammed open and in ran my daughter screaming, at the top of her lungs, "I have to go pee!"
And my most favorite embarrassing moment was when I was on a road trip with my 3-year old grandson. I was unfamiliar with a little town I had stopped to get gas in. I turned left out of the gas station realizing immediately that I had turned onto a one way street, the wrong way! I pulled into the drive of the business next door and stopped to collect my wits. The cop who saw me came racing across parking lots to get me. It was the first time in my life I had to encounter a policeman. Shaking and crying because I couldn't find my insurance card in teh glove compartment, my grandson jumps out of his seatbelt into the front seat and, with all the male authority he could summon up, yelled at the policeman that he was "going to kick his butt for making his grandma cry!"
I don't think the cop was scared, though. I received a $175.00 ticket for no proof of insurance.
posted on February 28, 2001 08:39:05 AMDogdays LOL! Your "I have to go pee" story reminded me of another "incident."
We were eating out once when my daughter who was about 3 years old went trooping through the middle of the restaurant repeating loudly - "I don't need to PEEEEEE mom - I need to POOOOOP! LOL
posted on February 28, 2001 09:20:09 AM
I took my children when they were 6, 8 and 10 to an art gallery. In very short order they discovered a nude painting.
Then the race was on...to find more nudes.
Throughout the quiet art gallery could be heard, Here's one! Here's another one! Look at THIS one!
Our little cultural lesson was short and embarrasing.
posted on February 28, 2001 11:04:07 AM
Hehe, these stories are great!
This reminds me of a time when I was about 11, and my little sister was about 2.
Of course, I, being 11 years old, decided to teach my little sister the word "fart".
She knew that it got attention, and she thought the word was hilarious...
So, my grandparents took my sister out to a restaurant with them, and she said "I farted!" quite loudly, from what I hear, while the waitress was standing there.
My grandpa started cracking up, while my grandma turned red in the face and asked my sister where she learned that word...of course, I have yet to hear the end of it!
posted on February 28, 2001 02:40:11 PM
Several months ago I had a discussion with my four year old about what words are okay to say and which were not okay. We live below some real white trash neighbors who throw around the F-word all the time, they think it is a real kick when there own kids swear and my son picked up a few choice tidbits.
Anyway, last week I was in the car with my 4 year old and my parents and my 80 year old grandmother and my son said, "it is okay to say dang it but not to say F**K hu Mom?"
EEEEKKKK
Good thing my grandma is hard of hearing.
[ edited by cmbtboots on Feb 28, 2001 02:49 PM ]
posted on February 28, 2001 02:41:10 PM
My daughter had a favorite little "joke" she liked to pull when she was about 2 1/2 yrs old. We would be in a store or some other public place and she would say VERY loudly - "Don't pinch me!" or "Ouch! Stop pinching me!" Of course I hadn't touched her, but I got some pretty dirty looks from other shoppers, I'm probably lucky someone didn't turn me in for child abuse!
She of course thought it was hilarious, darn kid. Luckily this was a short lived phase.
posted on February 28, 2001 03:02:07 PMtootsiepop That reminds me of something my son has done.
I joke around with him a lot and if he is misbehaving I will say, "knock it off or I will wap you in the head." That usually gets a good laugh out of him. We were at the grocery store in the check out line a few months ago and and he was whining for a treat, so I said the usual, "knock it off or I will wap you in the head"
There were several people within earshot of us. He looked at me, covers his head with his hands and says, "please Mommy, don't hit me."
I could have killed him, or at least wapped him in the head!!
posted on February 28, 2001 03:09:14 PM
Embarrassing moments from my son would take up way too much room on this thread. At least hearing everyone else's doesn't make me feel so bad!
posted on February 28, 2001 08:50:52 PM
Great thread, it's nice to read some fun stuff here today
When my son (now 13) was 3 I took him with me to the local beauty college to get my hair trimmed. He was being pretty good, but soon got bored and darted over to an unoccupied hair washing sink and proceeded to turn the water on. Up shot the spray hose from the pressure, it started whipping around with a force of it's own, spraying every one within reach. The women in the salon were all hesitate get close enough to turn it off so everyone got wet.
posted on February 28, 2001 08:54:13 PM
Gheesh and to think having no children, I WANT THEM even after reading all of this lol.
http://ballsandstrikescollectibles.beckett.com/
posted on February 28, 2001 10:17:20 PM
Not having any children of my own, I have to be satisfied with the embarrassing moments of the children of the women I go out with.
Several (well, ok many) years ago, a woman I was going out with and I and her 4ish year old son were walking down one of the main streets here, when her son decided that it would be fun to jump off the granite steps of a house we were walking past. Of course part of the deal was that his mother, who happened to be quite well endowed, would have to catch him when he jumped. All went according to plan until he slid down out of her arms to jump again, and in the process happened to catch the edge of the tube top she was wearing, bringing it almost to her waist.
posted on February 28, 2001 11:27:49 PM
No kids of my own, but this brings to mind two stories about my sister & myself that my mother would tell people about. Both incidents took place on a bus (we didn't have a car when I was little).
Me:
I'd had a cold & we'd run out of Kleenex & so my mom had me blowing my nose with toilet paper at home. We were riding on the bus one day & my nose started running again so my Mom, who'd bought a small purse-pack of Kleenex, handed me a tissue. According to her I (4 year-old at time) shrieked out "You mean I get to use a KLEENEX?!?"
Sister:
This happened before I was born (she was 9 years older than I) & you have to remember the time period (late 40's/early 50's). My mom said she & my sister were riding on the bus, which was crowded. An older black gentleman got on & sat next to a young white woman who was, according to my mother, disgruntled by this. Before the young lady could do or say anything, my sister (about 6 years old at the time I think) looked at the two of them & asked her loudly "Is that your Daddy?" Mom said if looks could kill my sister would have dropped dead there & then
posted on March 1, 2001 03:17:27 AM
I don't have any kids or warts - I get enough mileage from other peoples.
We went out for lunch after Sunday meeting with a family with kids. The 10 year old next to be was easy to talk to being in the dinosaur/bugs/science project stage.
When his burger and fries came he kept patiently tap tap tapping on the ketchup bottle and finally smacked it with the flat of his palm - spraying half the bottle all over my shirt tie and jacket. I didn't have the heart to scold him - his face already said he figured he would never see 11.
posted on March 1, 2001 05:06:35 PM
Okay...I guess I have to take back the comment I made about my son. While deserving of it, he did something today that made me so proud I could almost cry.
He called me at work to tell me that one of his classmates had brought a pocketknife to school and was showing it off to some of the other kids on the playground. Danny said he thought about it for a while and decided to tell a Supervisor. His classmate is now enjoying a well deserved suspension. I realized that this was a pretty monumental task for a 9-year old (peer pressure being what it is) and I'm considering reinstating his karate lessons that got suspended because of a little trouble he got in last week. BUT, I better wait and see how he does over the weekend first.
posted on March 1, 2001 06:34:44 PM
I don't understand what the problem is with carrying a pocket knife.
My grandfather taught me how to safetly handle and sharpen a pocket knife when I was 6 or 7 and I have carried one ever since.
Now, I don't think it is a good idea to be showing it around, but that is what kids do with ANYTHING they precieve as cool.
Maybe I am just wierd because I grew up in the country. I used a knife to butcher and clean the food that went on the table. To me it is a tool to be kept in proper working order and close at hand in case of need.
posted on March 1, 2001 07:05:02 PMgisi - I see your point. I also grew up with knives (my father was a butcher). And I agree with your statement:
To me it is a tool to be kept in proper working order and close at hand in case of need.
But the problem with the above scenario is two-fold. One, I would bet a fair amount of money that this child was not brought up with nor taught the proper use of knives. Two, there is no 'need' for a knife in school, esp. for a nine-year-old.
Odds are that this child didn't have any bad intentions - he just thought it was 'cool' and was showing off a bit. But it's still completely inappropriate and he should have been suspended and his parents notified.
posted on March 1, 2001 07:20:01 PM
Have you ever wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole. Well I have.
When my youngest was about 4 he told a friend , who happened to be extremely large, that she could not come into our house because she would break our chairs.
Now I must explain that the week before we had all been at another friends house when this rather large lady sat on the sofa and the end fell off. My son still to this day thinks that the poor lady caused it because she was too heavy and by her sitting on down it broke.
This same child is now 16 and although he is no angel he has learnt a bit of Tact along the way.
posted on March 1, 2001 07:45:54 PM
I grew up in the city, gisi, and I also carried a knife to school. My parish school was the sponsor of my Boy Scout troop. On meeting days we were allowed to wear our scout uniforms. I had this folding knife that had every imaginable utensil in addition to a blade. There was a fork, spoon, saw, scissors, file, screwdriver, corkscrew, and maybe even an entrenching tool. It all fit into a leather scabbard that I wore on my belt. I thought it was really cool.
One Christmas I got an official boy scout axe. It had a cover with belt loops. Wore that to school, too. The kids thought it was neat and the adults paid it no mind. I'm sure if there were an official boy scout sword I could have brought it in with no problems.
Was the world a simpler place then, a more naive place, a safer place, or what? It certainly was different.
I'm not always pleased with the direction our society has taken but I don't believe the answers to our problems lie in the past. There's no turning back the clock. Innocence cannot be restored.
Nowadays knives are not cool at school. That's the way it is.
posted on March 1, 2001 08:30:55 PM
I don't know what can I say, I get up in the morning, put on my pants, put my wallet in one pocket, keys in another, and the money and pocket knife in a third. Been doing for over 30 years and I am not going to change now.
If you ask me, all of the no tolorance cr*p is just that, cr*p. Children need to be taught responsibility, if you take all decesions away from them and tell them exactly what to do, how are they going to learn.
Greg
p.s. I have NO children, because I never felt I was up to the responsiblity of raising them. So, NO, I have no right to tell other people how to raise their children (and I don't).
posted on March 2, 2001 05:41:28 AMgisi I agree with you, BUT the problem is that many parents have given up on teaching their children responsibility. You never know, these days, which child may try to hurt another child with a knife or other weapon. My 15 year old son loves knives and collects them, but even though he knows how to be responsible with them, we would never allow him to take them to school. It's just a result of the sad state of our world today. As for funny stories, when my youngest son (the 15 year old) was about 3 or so, we were sitting in a restaurant. A very large (tall and heavy) lady walked in and my son looked up at her and said (very loudly), "MOM! That is a BIGGGGG girl!" The lady heard him... but was gracious enough to not say anything. I was so embarrassed!
posted on March 2, 2001 05:52:32 AM
Don't think that it is just the kids. I had a friend that was not allowed to take a pen knive with a inch and a half blade onto an airliner. After argueing for awhile with them he finally just said - "Keep it thief." Which they took some exception to - Then when he was on the airplane they gave him a 4 inch long serratted knive to cut his meat with.
He said he felt like banging his head on the tray in frustration.
Truth is if I want a weapon on an airplane I am a skilled machinist and I can create any number of weapons with no metal in them at all using ceramics/ plastics and glass that will go through the gate without a beep. It just so happens I have no desire to do so, but know how easy it would be. There aree plenty of propellants that do not contain nitrogen to be detected also.
The many faces of Muriel
[ edited by Muriel on Feb 28, 2001 02:18 PM ]
