I Embarass My Kids

I embarass my kids. I know this is a parent's duty in life, but it still always surprises me the little things that embarass them. The other day my son went to ride his bike on a dirt bike course a friend had built right near our home. He asked if he could borrow my camera. The thought of him riding his bike with my camera was too much for me, and I wouldn't let him take it. He left without it, and was very upset with me. A few minutes later, my husband and I decided to go somewhere. I have taken more and more to carrying my camera with me. When we passed the place where the bike course was, I had him stop the car. I asked my son if he would like me to take a picture for him. He was SO embarassed that his Mom showed up with a camera.

The next thing I did embarassed my daughter. I have an acquaintance who is younger than me who has a facebook account. I didn't really understand what a face book was, and thought maybe it had photos of hers that I could view. I decided to sign up for my own account. My daughter about died! Of course, when I realized what it was all about, I suddenly had no interest in it. Why do I want to see a bunch of pictures of people I don't know on my friends' sites? My daughter was a little too eager to have me delete my account.

One thing that always gets my kids is if I try to hug or kiss them in public. My daughter made such a stink about it in high school if I tried to hug her before she got out of the car, that I began to really lay the teasing on thick. As she would get out of the car, I would call out loudly, "By honey! I will miss you! I love you!". I think she would have been happy if she could have just melted in to the cement sidewalk. I'm probably a bad Mom for teasing, but she deserved it.

Honestly, I don't think I'm that embarassing. My husband is the one who wears beanie hats wrong...all perched on top of his head with about 4 inches of empty hat sticking up. He's the one who goes outside to work on the car and has a plumber's smile. He's the one who sings at the top of his lungs inside the house so that all the neighbors can hear. So what if I have a blog, and play an internet game with real people? I'm 45, but I'm not dead! So what if I like to listen to some popular music? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I only have to listen to music from my generation. So what if I kiss my husband right in front of my kids? Would they rather we didn't like each other?

Actually, in some ways I don't mind being an embarassment to my kids. I guess I'm a tease at heart..it's fun to watch them squirm. I hope they remember this when they become my age. I know they are going to learn very quickly that these bodies age quickly, whether we want them to or not. We just have to stay the same person inside, and enjoy life to the fullest.