15 Awkward Situations That Could Happen to Any Parent

If you’ve never been embarrassed by children, it’s either because you don’t worry about what others think about you or you just don’t have children. The things that kids do can embarrass us at the worst moments. And, as the following stories show, the best thing you can do in these situations is to just laugh about it.

The Bright Side team was most impressed by a story about a 5-year-old boy that learned to tie his laces. It turns out that learning even this simple skill can lead to some pretty unpredictable results.

• My 3-year-old son attended pre-school. On the final night, the parents of each child were invited to come and see what they had worked on all week. Upon entering, my son’s teacher pulled me immediately to the side, separating me from my husband, and looking a bit embarrassed she asked if my husband was the child’s father. I answered yes and she looked relieved and then she said, “I am so confused. When I asked Alexander to make a Father’s Day card for his dad he asked me which of his 3 daddies was he supposed to make it for?” Startled, I called my son over and asked him why he had said that. He quickly explained that he had a dad and 2 granddads so that makes 3 daddies. © J. L. Harrington / Quora

• We usually buy the green or yellow kinds of apples that my husband and I like. Our son likes red apples more, but he almost never eats them, so they go bad. We were on a walk one day and I only had keys with me, no wallet. We walked past a fruit vendor and there were red apples there. My son said in a miserable voice, “I wish I could eat an apple. It’s probably so tasty... At least one... I wish we had money.” I felt terrible and embarrassed. © Alice Schmidt / Facebook

• My son didn’t learn to speak for a long time. But one day when we went to see our relatives, and my wife started singing some song, my son quickly said, “Mom, stop singing!” My wife stopped immediately, and I thought about how long he had to tolerate her singing before he could say that he didn’t like it. © Lobastik / Pikabu

• My son, as a teenager, lived to embarrass us. We would be shopping at Walmart and when an announcement came over the intercom, he would drop to his knees, with his hands covering his ears, and say something like, “Oh no, the voices are back! Make them stop!” He and my mother were at a grocery store together once. He was almost all the way across the store from her when, while holding a package of adult diapers, he yelled “Hey, Nana, is this what you were looking for?” If he was going out with friends and I asked where he was going, his standard reply was “barn dancing and devil worshiping.” I was so used to it at that point that I would just say, “Okay, have fun and be careful.” I got some strange looks from friends over that. He totally and completely embarrassed us at times. But I also never laughed so much in my life. He’s 32 and a dad now. I’m hoping my grandson turns out to be just like him. © Lisa Kinsler / Quora

• My mom was a donor. She had a rare blood type — AB. Once, she was even sent by helicopter to donate blood to a child. When I was in 7th grade, I had a biology lesson where the teacher offered us to find our blood types. I found out that my type was also AB. And my dad had the O. But if that were the case, I couldn’t have the AB type! When I got home, I asked my parents who my real parents were. They were shocked and my dad went to have his blood tested. It turned out he was A-type and we were all relieved. © login380 / Pikabu

• I had had a talk with my son about how hard it is to keep the house clean. After lunch, he came up to me and said, “Thank you for feeding me today mom!” You should have seen the electrician’s face at that moment. © bhbyf290569 / PIkabu

• My mother got called by the school for my (much) younger sister when she was 6/7 because she showed up at school with a black eye.
  Principal: “Mrs. H, I think we have an issue with your daughter’s cousin Rebecca...”
  Mom: “She doesn’t have a cousin named Rebecca.”
  Principal: “I’ll get back to you.”
  15 minutes later:
  Principal: “I think we’ve gotten to the bottom of things. It seems that your son’s girlfriend is the issue.”
  Mom: “My son has been in London for the past several months.”
  Principal: “I think you should come in.”
  My mother arrives at my sister’s school under heavy suspicion of being a child abuser. She takes one look at my sister and says to her: “Wipe that stuff off now.”
  My sister had taken mascara and painted herself a black eye. When asked why she would do such a thing, she replied: “I wanted to see how everyone would react.” © donderblix / Reddit

• My mom told me a funny story from her childhood. Once, she and her brother were given 2 boxes of chocolate. My mom ate her box that same day, but her brother wouldn’t let her eat any of his! So, she decided to trick him: she went to his box, bit off the bottom of the chocolate, and kept the top. Her brother was really surprised when he decided to share his chocolates with his friends. © Podslushano / Ideer

• We were on the bus with my daughter. It was early in the morning and there were a lot of people. A lady came in and she didn’t smell very good. My daughter said very loudly, “Wow, that lady stinks!” I told her, “She’s not an animal, don’t say ’stink.’” And she said, “Well, she definitely stinks like an animal!” © Nejora / Pikabu

• My dad took me to a football game when I was really young, and while we were walking around he was stopped by some guy selling stuff, and he offered him a free t-shirt if my dad filled out a simple questionnaire. Eventually, the guy asks for my dad’s phone number, my dad makes something up, and I go, “Dad, that’s not your phone number.” My father just kinda looked at me. I accidentally called out his lie. © Chowley_1/ Reddit

• I remember when I was younger (5-ish maybe, my brother was 7 or so) my mom was in a minor car accident while driving us downtown. She just rear-ended someone but both of the cars pulled over and waited for the police (not sure why they came, but they did). The police officer asked my mom if there was anyone else in the van and she said yes so he asked her to open the door. At this time my brother and I thought it would be hilarious to drape ourselves over the car seats and act “dead” when the police officer opened the door. So yeah, frazzled mom and the police open the door, my brother and I are sprawled on the seats, eyes closed and not moving. She was mortified. I do believe we started laughing after that, so all was well. © cloudpuff / Reddit

• When my son began to walk he was also at that puppy stage where toddlers like to taste everything, you know, investigate everything with their mouths instead of their hands. We were walking downtown with him and window shopping. I guess he saw himself in the reflection of a coffee-shop glass window and became enamored by it. He walked right up to his own reflection and started kissing and licking it on the clean glass. Just full-on making out with himself, or at least, that’s how it appeared to me and a half dozen on-lookers. I was surprised by this, but had also become accustomed to him doing strange things, so I just grabbed him quickly and laughed it off, while dying inside a little bit. © Alison Fenton Borel / Quora

• My 5-year-old son could finally tie his own shoes, and he was extra proud to be able to put his laces in DOUBLE KNOTS! He practiced over and over again. He tied his sister’s shoes, and soon all the shoes in my closet were tied... I was sitting on a bench while the kids were playing in the playground. I heard a scream and dismissed it as kids having fun. I heard it again, this time louder. A girl was stuck at the top of the play structure. Someone tied her to the pole in a double knot. I knew exactly what had happened. I had to apologize because my son wouldn’t say anything. Her mom glared at me with eyes that could launch arrows right into my face. She grabbed her daughter and angrily left the park. Then, I noticed other women looking at me with disgust, as if I was raising a heartless criminal who had no remorse. © Amy Babineaux-Smith / Quora

Have you ever been ashamed by your children’s stories or the unpredictable things they did? We’re looking forward to your favorite stories!