[Zophie]

First I have to say that I love my parents to death, so this is not meant as an ugly thread to hate on my parents. But today when I went out to eat with my dad and my brother I started thinking about all the silly embarssing things my parents do and wondered if anyone else had any stories.

We went to eat and while we were at the table waiting for the food my dad takes the salt shaker and picks it up. He was intrigued by the fact that it's sea salt. He proceeds to put some salt into his palm and lick it off. Then a little more salt fell out and onto the table. He takes his fingers and starts wiping up the salt off the table and eating it. It wasn't at a fine dining place at least (we were at Outback), but still kind of embarassing.

Then when we were done eating he takes some of the cardboard coasters that were on the table and hadn't been used and puts them in his jacket pocket. My brother and I were just giving each other looks and laughing. My dad tells us that he wants to use the coasters at work. I asked him if he wanted me to take his empty beer glass and put it in my purse too (joking of course.)

And no, my dad isn't senile!

There's much more he's done that is embarassing (but at least amusing) and I'm sure I can come up with a lot my mom has done too. Am I the only one whose parents sometimes make them want to hide and hope they don't see anyone they know?

[CEC.LV4eva]

lol... our family's embarrassing moments all revolve around restaurants cuz it's our only weekly family time on Saturday nights...

1. I HATE it when my mom "SUCKS" the soup in LOL! She LOVES soup and says that it tastes more savory if she makes this HUGE noise! lol

2. My grandmother likes to call out the chef and talk to him................. and she talks in a foreign language lol....................

[Archipelago]

^---Your grandmother sounds adorable!

My family does a lot of embarassing things but I'm not really as bothered by them anymore. It was a lot more humiliating when I was young though. I used to want to sit by myself at restaurants because my family has the worst table manners. My dad talks LOUDLY (really LOUDLY). He always loved to take his shoes off in public places but my brother and I always policed that and forced him to put his damn shoes back on. A lot of the embarassing behavior is a result of cultural differences. My parents grew up in China and immigrated in their early 20's.

[boxermom]

Haha--that's our job as parents--to embarrass our kids! At least that's what our sons would say. We don't do it deliberately--we're just kind of clueless at times.

Restaurants seem to bring out the dork in us. One time leaving a really nice restaurant with our sons (they were teenagers), dh said to the maitre de, "night-night". Our younger son would've gladly adopted another family right then, he was so mortified. He laughs about it now.

[Pursegrrl]

I love my parents dearly but I'm noticing now how uppity my Dad is getting. Hey he busted his a$$ working hard to give his family a good life (not to mention Mom being SAHM + tons of volunteer work), so I guess they've both earned the right to be a little more demanding...

When we go out to eat (which is not that often), my Dad is very fussy about getting served quickly, and he immediately gives his credit card to the server when the bill comes. I on the other hand relish going out to eat and having it be a much more relaxed process. I also like variety, while my folks will pretty much order the same thing over & over. zzzzzzzz.

[pinkybear]

i love my parents to death...
but the have a thing about making jokes about their sex life. its sweet and everything but...
for example this morning during breakfast i asked my mom infront of my dad if she got him a present. my mom goes "of course baby girl! mommy was up all night giving your dad a merry christmas" EWWW! im 21.. my mom is 55 and dad is 52! COME ON!!

[Speedy]

Pinky, lol! I think I am your Mom in another life. DH and I do this to our kids too.

The other night we took the kids out to our favorite restaraunt downtown and we managed to embarrass both of them several times. We know the owners quite well and they are a fun lovin' couple of young guys. Couple of things happened, but the one I liked the best was asking my son's girlfriend to figure out how much tip I should leave, after telling her I can't add, subtract, divide or multiply. (I can of course, I was pulling her leg.) I also dropped my fork with a chunk of meat on it (had a bad arm spasm, can't control them) and calmly asked her for her fork since she was having a cheeseburger.

On our way out, we had to pass behind some guys standing up in front of the bar. My son about died when I went "BEEP BEEP" as I came up on them, to get them to move so I wouldn't roll over their toes.

Probably the best part was when I asked the kids when they were going to give me grandbabies. She turned BRIGHT red!

And who says sex after 50 is yucky? Hey, we still have feelings too!

[Zophie]

Originally Posted by pinkybear

i love my parents to death...
but the have a thing about making jokes about their sex life. its sweet and everything but...
for example this morning during breakfast i asked my mom infront of my dad if she got him a present. my mom goes "of course baby girl! mommy was up all night giving your dad a merry christmas" EWWW! im 21.. my mom is 55 and dad is 52! COME ON!!

ewwww!

One thing my dad did years ago was really embarassing for my brother. My brother had his friend over that lived across the street. My dad comes walking out of the bathroom buck naked and sees my brother and his friend. He just looks at my brother's friend and goes, "Oh, hi, Christopher," and keeps walking like nothing was wrong. Poor little Christopher goes, "Your dad is NAKED" with his eyes all wide! My dad used to always walk naked from the bathroom to his bedroom after a shower. I'd tell him please not to do it, there are some things I really don't need to see! He just thinks it's natural and it's his house and he should be able to walk naked whenever he wants.

[lulilu]

Originally Posted by pinkybear

i love my parents to death...
but the have a thing about making jokes about their sex life. its sweet and everything but...
for example this morning during breakfast i asked my mom infront of my dad if she got him a present. my mom goes "of course baby girl! mommy was up all night giving your dad a merry christmas" EWWW! im 21.. my mom is 55 and dad is 52! COME ON!!

While I agree with Speedy that people have active sex lives after age 50, there is something really bizarre about flaunting it to your children. Mom has problems IMO.

[volleyballgal]

Zophie that is HILARIOUS!!! My mom calls people "lad", "lass", or "chap" in public. OK is far from England so people look at her funny. My dad is always telling jokes to everybody and no one ever understands them! Hes a cheapo to, so if I order something and its slightly different then how I wanted it, he demands a refund. Theres more, but today Im too happy to list them!

[Speedy]

Originally Posted by lulilu

While I agree with Speedy that people have active sex lives after age 50, there is something really bizarre about flaunting it to your children. Mom has problems IMO.

Ah, you are right. I would never flaunt my sex life to my kids, in fact, it's really hard for me to think MY CHILDREN are having sex! I am probably old fashioned, but discussing sex at ALL with ANYONE outside of your own partner is, in my humble opinion, disgusting.

However, my point was you don't just curl up and die after fifty in that department. My former doctor seemed to be highly interested in my sex life after I lost deep impulse nerves below my waist, and while his interest was purely proffesional, I could not and would not discuss it with him. But that type of discussion is the ultimate in embarrassment of one's children. And that is what the topic is about.

Hey, btw, Happy whatever-you-celebrate-or don't-celebrate 25th of December. Peace!

[purseinsanity]

Growing up, I was pretty much embarrassed by everything and anything my parents did. I grew up in a small town where everyone was white and we were some of the few non-white families in town. Culturally we were very different and it made me so self-conscious! Now, I'm not sure why...maybe it's as you get older you care less about making others happy and more about making yourself happy, but nothing they do embarrasses me any more! I realized in the grand scheme of things, they actually didn't do anything too strange, and I just love and appreciate them for who they are!

[Zophie]

when I was younger some of the things my parents did to embarass me wouldn't bother me now. But some of the things I don't think I'll ever get over being embarassed by. Like my mom will get all uppity and obnoxious if someone in any type of retail establishment doesn't seem to get what she's saying or in some other way, which may not even be obvious, offends her.

My dad will talk in the movies no matter how many times you go "Shhhhh!"

[apple_28]

My parents still have sex... It's completely healthy, I know but as their daughter still living in their house it feels weird. They're both pretty naughty too. They have lots of porn and toys... They're both in their 50s btw. Dad is pretty quiet about it, but Mom is very talkative when her friends come by. She shares her stories even when I'm in the room!!

[JAN!]

LOL!!! EWW @ the thought of parents banging each other and then letting their children know about it!

When I was about 12, I walked into my parents' bedroom (they were not there at the time) and stepped on an unwrapped condom on the floor! I knew what it was and I was MORTIFIED. Ran to the bathroom and cleansed my foot for I think over 15 minutes. /perma-cringe

Okay as for embarrassing antics, my parents just own most parents in that department. More frequently my mom, but my dad has his moments too. Let's start with him.

So I was 10 and my dad and I were at the top of a ferris wheel with two other boys that we didn't know. They were about my age. We were at the top for about 5 minutes now because they were probably having some sort of issue loading people down at the bottom. My dad, like always, tries to make conversation with the strangers. He goes, "so I see you are checking out my daughter. Do you like her?" Of course, they were just taken back by his weirdness and blushed without answering. I wanted to jump out of the 3 story wheel. He does other things, but this has to be the winner.

As for mother, she continues to embarrass me as if her life depended on it. Sometimes she does it on purpose, and other times, it's just the way she is. When we are at the mall and she is in a particularly giddy mood, she likes to all of a sudden sing Britney Spears or Backstreet Boys songs. So we would be walking in The Gap and she would belt out, "Hit me baby one more time!" I walk away casually. For the next 5 minutes, I do not know of this person.

She has the worst manners I have ever seen. When eating, she is probably no different than bushmen. She doesn't change her habits when we are in restaurants either. We could be at a fancy restaurant, and she would not hesitate to spit out her chewed veggies RIGHT ONTO THE TABLE. If she feels a little more civilized, she would spit it into her hand and then proceed to dash it on the table.

Her voice is obnoxiously LOUD. When she speaks, it's as if we are all either in a blizzard or having the argument of our lives. Strangers always stare in disbelief and show signs of irritation.

She picks her nose at home and in public.
Farts whenever she pleases but does not own up to it half the time.
She dresses as if she's my age but sluttier. If it weren't for her protruding tummy, she says, she would wear a tube top showing off her midriff.

Those are my one of a kind parents.