Monday, January 30, 2012

Embarrassing Moments - Parenting Plights & Delights


Ginger Calem left a comment on my Holiday Shopping With Kids post that still makes me chuckle every time I think of it. Here's a photo of her little darling when she was a little older than the incident Ginger shared with us. 
Ginger has a few nicknames for her daughter:
Little Pip, Sassy-Pants, Bossy-boots, to name a few!

Here's Ginger's parenting comment:
Ah … kids! Being embarrassed by them in public is part of a parent's initiation to the big leagues! Here's the first grocery store one that popped into my head. I was shopping with my very young daughter who was in the early stages of talking. I took her temperature that morning and announced she was running a fever, low-grade, no big deal. Off to the store we go. In the feminine product aisle (no less!) we pass two senior citizen women who smiled at my daughter and exclaimed how cute she was. My darling daughter announced in an alarmingly articulate manner, "I have a beaver." No amount of shh'ing or repeating 'fever' would stop her from telling everyone about her beaver. Then she asked for a Dora balloon, the one with a dick. STICK, honey, a stick. Yes, I want it with the dick. *Sigh*

Pat O'Dea Rosen said: My parents told a story about toddler me panicking at the top of a down escalator and clinging to my dad's khaki-clad leg. Unfortunately, the leg didn't belong to my dad, but to a guy too kind to shake off a scared kid.


Stephanie D. said: I was shopping with Peanut at Target when she was about 2-ish (and super talkative). We passed the bra aisle and she yells out, "Look, mom, there are your boobies!"

What comes to mind was our littlest girl going to the bathroom at Souplantation all by herself. She ran up to our table and exclaimed, "Mom, dad, you have to see my poop. It's enormous!" Then she ran back to the bathroom with such pride. The whole restaurant, including us, burst out laughing.


Jennette Marie Powell said:
First story that comes to my mind is one of the "kids say the darndest things" variety: When my daughter was five or six, my mom took her to the kids' discovery museum. When they got to the insect exhibit, my daughter saw the roaches and said, "Look, Grandma, just like at your house!" My mom (who honest, is a very good housekeeper!) was totally mortified! I was LOL! 


Ah, kids, gotta love 'em!



So, do you have an embarrassing parenting or grandparenting incident
or another story you'd like to share? 
If you're not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too! 

Warning: I might feature your story in a future post. 
(Names can be changed to protect the guilty!)

I'd like to thank those who shared a parenting story with me last week. 
I'm saving them and will publish some in future posts.

If you don't want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, 
here's my address: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.

38 comments:

Sarah Tokeley said...

I love these. I think the one about the little girl clinging to the stranger is my favourite - what a kind man!

April Plummer said...

Oh man, those are great! I have one that just happened yesterday.

My husband and I have some...toys. We normally keep them in a box under our bed.

One of those toys is a blindfold. I had to wash it, and after it was clean, I threw it on top of my dresser as I put away clothes.

The Little One, who's 7, was in our room last night while I was going through my hundreds of books, and she saw the blindfold.

Immediately, she thought it was awesome and had to put it on. She then danced around the room saying, "i can't see! Where are you? I can't see you! These are awesome!"

All I could think about was how my husband and I use those blindfolds...

At least it was clean!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Stephen's wins for me!

Emily R. King said...

Ha! The balloon comment in priceless. My four-year-old is poor at enunciating. He says "Homo Depot" not Home Depot. I can't help but laugh.

LynNerdKelley said...

Sarah - I know, what a nice man. He probably didn't want to risk having the child fall down the escalator!

April - That's pretty funny. I bet your hubby and you had a good laugh over that!

Alex - LOL!

Emily - That's really cute. Kids come up with some crazy stuff while learning to perfect words. English isn't the easiest language to master, that's for sure. LOL!

Old Kitty said...

LOL!! From the mouth of babes!! Yay! Take care
x

Ginger Calem said...

Thanks for including the story of my little Pip. She's still cracking me up!

cleemckenzie said...

ROFL You have to be very strong to parent!

Unknown said...

Just two weeks ago my brother in law came for a visit and the two of us were sitting in the lounge. My 3 year old came out of my bedroom showing off my knickers.I was mortified.

Bish Denham said...

These are hysterical! I used to be a fussy eater. If my mom put something in front of me I wasn't sure about I'd ask, "Have I had it before? Did I like it?" Of course my mother always said yes to both questions.

Melissa Sugar said...

These are priceless. I am tempted to share my own worst moment, but it is too shocking. Reading the beaver incident reminded me of it. I will tell an abbreviated version of it. It has to do with me the mommy using a very crowded public restroom at Target no less and my little girl who just started talking (who was in the stall with me-I wasn't about to leave her alone in the bathroom) Well this mom was having her period and loud little daughter screamed something along the lines of " Why are you putting that firecracker there mommy? I still almost die from humiliation when I think about it.

jerzey72 said...

lol that little girl is adorable:)

LynNerdKelley said...

Old Kitty - Yes, out of the mouths of babes!

Ginger - Thanks for your hilarious story. I bet Little Pip will keep you laughing even when she's grown up!

Lee - So true. Have to be strong and learn to grin and bear it!

Wendy - That's so funny and embarrassing, too!

Bish - That sounds like the answers I'd get from my mom! And I'd believe her.

LynNerdKelley said...

Melissa - Your abbreviated version is hilarious and super embarrassing. Did you hear any giggles from the other women in the rest room?

Jerzey - I think Little Pip is pretty adorable, too. We can tell from the photo she's got quite a personality!

Coleen Patrick said...

Oh thanks as always for the laugh! :)

Patricia Rickrode w/a Jansen Schmidt said...

All very good stories. I was grocery shopping once and a little girl latched on to my shopping cart. She was sucking her thumb and not paying any attention to who was around her.

The sad part is that her mother continued shopping down the aisle and around the corner without her. I stayed very still so as not to startle the little tot. She finally looked up at me and I smiled and said, "you want me to help you find your mama?"

She never panicked or anything just walked along side me to the next aisle over.

Kind of scared me. I could have walked right out that store with her. Her mother was embarassed though when I returned her and told her what had happened.

Kind of funny, but a little scary at the same time.

Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt

LynNerdKelley said...

Coleen - You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

Patricia - That blows my mind that the mother didn't even notice and the tot wasn't scared that you were a stranger. The crazy stuff that happens in real life, huh? Thanks for your comment!

Pat Tillett said...

Parenting is NOT all peaches and cream. We have five and have way too many stories. Maybe I should do some blog posts on the crazy things that happened with our zany kids.. thanks for the inspiration!
Great post!

Pat Tillett said...

Parenting is NOT all peaches and cream. We have five and have way too many stories. Maybe I should do some blog posts on the crazy things that happened with our zany kids.. thanks for the inspiration!
Great post!

Anonymous said...

How crazy that I come upon your blog today, Lynn... I've been on the topic of embarrassing moments today. ;) What a fantastic series you've got going. These stories are PRECIOUS!

LynNerdKelley said...

Pat - With five kids, I bet you've got a novel's worth of stories to share. I sure hope you'll blog about some of them!

August - Thanks for stopping by. What a coincidence about the embarrassing moments today! Thanks, so glad you enjoyed them!

Anonymous said...

Fabulously fun stories Lynn. Thanks for sharing.

catherinemjohnson.com said...

Hilarious! Thanks for the laughs.

Anonymous said...

It is a rite of passage!

Pat O'Dea Rosen said...

You know how to get us to laugh and reminisce, Lynn.

Author A.O. Peart said...

These are awesome! I can't stop laughing. :-)

Helen Scott Taylor said...

So funny. Love them. We parents do get our own back when the kids become teens. I can't think of a teen who isn't embarrassed by his or her parents.

Judythe Morgan said...

Thanks for conjuring up some fond memories and making me laugh. Helen's right teen years bring payback.

Nancy Thompson said...

I don't remember my kid ever saying anything untoward. He was too precocious. But those two about the beaver and the poop are hilarious. Thanks for sharing!

Carol Kilgore said...

These are hilarious. I especially laughed at the one with the beaver and the dick.

Kelly Polark said...

These are so funny!!! I work with kindergarteners and they make me laugh every day!

My kids on various occasions have told people, "Yeah, my mom swears. She uses the C-word!"


I say, "Crap!" a lot. NOT another c-word, by the way! :)

Robyn Campbell said...

Okay! I wanna meet Little Pip. She is AWESOME! Awesome, I tell ya. I think she'll be a star when she grows up. Just look at that picture. :-) You had me giggling, Lynn. I needed it.

LynNerdKelley said...

Debra - Thank you!

Catherine - You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

Susie - You're right, it is a rite of passage! LOL!

Pat - Thanks for sharing your darling childhood story!

Angela - It's so easy to picture you laughing, from seeing your great profile pic!

LynNerdKelley said...

Helen - Oh, that's so true - payback when they're teens!

Judy - I'm glad you got a kick out of these. Thanks for stopping by!

Nancy - Wow, you got off easy by not being embarrassed by your son! Glad you enjoyed these!

Carol - Yep, that one has had me giggling for weeks every time I think of it!

Kelly - That's funny that you mention that about kindergartners because I remember my kids' kindergartner teacher telling me how she knew all about what went on with her students' family life because they'd tell her everything! Such a fun age!

Isn't it funny that kids think "crap" is a swear word? And funnier that your kids tell on you!

Robyn - Little Pip does have confidence and star quality in that pic. Ginger will have to tell us what she's like now. She's older now, but I don't know how old. I bet she's quite a character!

J.L. Campbell said...

Laugh-out-loud funny stuff, Lynn. My faves are from Stephen and Jennette.

Ginger Calem said...

Hi again, couldn't resist popping back and now I have to say thank you to Robyn for her comment. Put a huge smile on my face!! My daughter is now 11 going on 17 in personality and attitude! I'll have to find some current pictures and send them to Lynn. And, she does want to be an actress or do anything dramatic! Give me strength.

Thanks again, Lynn, for sharing our story. ;)

Jennette Marie Powell said...

OMG these are hilarious! Especially Ginger's and Stephen's LOL. Thanks for including mine - now I have to remember to tell DD's boyfriend about it!

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for the mention. I think hahaha. That's a great story and I proudly share it with the world!