Walking the flights of stairs to Gabriella’s classroom this morning she said to me, “Dad, you’re embarrassing me.”
“What?” I said, amazed that my previously always amiable nine year-old was suddenly bothered by me. “What’s embarrassing about it?”
“Please don’t sing,” she said. “It’s embarrassing.”
Granted, I was singing “Get down girl, go ‘head get down, get down girl go ‘head” but I was singing it softly. And very well. And to my self. And my self was enjoying it very much. And there was no one else in the stairwell. And I feed and clothe this little person and allow her to live in my house free of charge. And also she has both good pitch and thick hair because of me and…
…but I shushed and walked the rest of the way in mature respectful silence thinking about Ireland.
I went to Northern Ireland with Michael W. Smith a few years back. We played a show in Belfast and then took a day off in Dublin.
That day Michael and his family had lunch with Bono and some of his family (like ya do).
The way I remember Michael telling it, sometime during lunch Bono’s kid rolled her eyes at him for something dorky he said or did or sang.
She did this to Bono – arguably the greatest frontman of our time, the guy who fills arenas easily and hangs out with Nelson Mandela and the Pope and wins Grammy Awards and wrote Where The Streets Have No Name.
Bono is an embarrassment to his kids.
Bono.
There was more than a little comfort in that for Michael, whose offspring also, from time to time, rolled their eyes in his general direction while growing up.
And there’s comfort in that for me today. And also freedom. Freedom I intend to exercise liberally when I pick my kids up from school later this afternoon blaring Baby Got Back from the mini van with the windows rolled down.
I may wear a feather boa. And a cowboy hat.
I mean, if you know you can’t win…
Erin M. says:
HILARIOUS! That is a great story! Can’t WAIT to get to that age with our kiddos – HA!
[email protected] says:
Well I have to say that I, too, feel comforted by this – and also by the fact that you were singing Gold Digger. With your child. At an elementary school.
Funny.
Shaun Groves says:
Who hasn’t?
Ben Power says:
Does Sunday School count? Because my oldest won’t be in kindergarten for a couple of years.
Amy Nabors says:
This is so funny. I remember being embarrassed by things my parents did also. I guess it comes back to haunt you. But there is something so fun in doing it just to make them roll their eyes. You’re right. If you can’t win you might as well have fun with it.
Ruth Ann says:
So funny!
Mike Herman says:
Yep, they’ve gotta learn that those kinds of action have elevated and opposite reactions of the worst kind.
rebecca in etx says:
Hilarious!!! definitely go with the pink boa, and maybe some hair extensions ๐
on our last camping trip I embarrassed my daughter for what may have been the first time – and she is only 5!!! I thought that didn’t start until they were 7 or 8 at least – boy do i have a lot to look forward too.
very funny indeed
Amanda says:
Ha ha! Loved this.
cshell says:
LOL…great story. My 13 year old daughter actually ducks down in the front floor board as we roll up into car line as I do my best impersonation of RUN DMC pretending our Expedition has 18″ spinners and hydaulics…. ๐ She loves when I do it!
Krissy says:
I’m right with ya. My two older girls (ages 16 and 12) learned a long time ago to NEVER let me know that I’m embarrassing them, because it only encourages me to do much more of whatever embarrassing thing I’m doing. (I take this approach intentionally, because I’m pretty sure I’m teaching them a spiritual lesson of some sort.) So get down, Shaun, go ‘head, get down…
jen says:
Amazing how “grown up” 9 is suddenly – huh?
This story comforts me today too . . . and the thought of you in the pick up line with the feather boa and cowboy hat and the music, oh the music, now THAT just plain old makes me laugh!
(Did you quit homeschooling?) whispering, so no one will hear
Shaun Groves says:
Nope, we still homeschool but two days each week my kids go to this “academy” for home schooled kids whose parents need a break ; )
Kris says:
That’s so cool.
I used to homeschool, but now my kids are in public school and I hate it.
Do you know of anyone who has their children in public school, but also supplements with homeschooling, like say, on the weekends or in the summer months? Can that be pulled off well?
Sorry. I know. Way off topic. I just saw this and wanted to jump in with some questions.
I very much so miss homeschooling.
jen says:
“for home schooled kids whose parents need a break” – if that’s the qualifier, where do I sign up??? ๐
Kris, it made me sad to read your comment. I’m sorry that you miss it so much and yet aren’t homeschooling. My two cents: kids need time OFF, time to play and to just be . . . but that doesn’t meant that you can’t do a lot of cool stuff with them when they are home (that might just happen to include learning factors) – museums and building stuff and reading and cool projects and Bible study and art and music, etc. That’s probably the best way to learn anyway!
Michelle says:
Baby Got Back ~ For the win!
Awesomeness.
Princess Leia says:
Have hope though: as a self-absorbed senior in high school, my dad was working three jobs, my mom two, because the church we’d been at for three years cut us loose unexpectedly and my parents a) were a little burnt out with church work after that (and some other experiences), and b) didn’t want me to have to move (again) my senior year in high school.
One of my dad’s jobs was substitute teacher and after having been both a music minister and a youth minister for much of his life, he felt most comfortable subbing in high school music classes. Like the ones at my school.
So sitting in my physics II class (me and five guys) one day, the guy behind me (valedictorian, basketball team captain, mom was a well-liked teacher, and while he wasn’t someone I had a crush on, he hadn’t exactly been hit by an ugly stick) asked if the Mr. Turner subbing in Mrs. Jarret’s piano class was my dad.
There was a moment where a picture of my dad in short shorts with his striped socks pulled all the way up his calves while mowing our front lawn popped in my head…and I knew I had a choice – I could be proud of my dad for doing what it took to care for my family without complaint, or I could be ashamed of him taking on several menial jobs.
I looked that guy dead in the eye and said with pride, “Yep, that’s my dad!”
Surprised the heck out of him (and the other also popular boy listening in), but I never heard another word about it.
One day they will see you for you, accept you for that, and be proud!
Lindsee says:
Um, you are funny! And I’m sharing this post with my boss (aka a youth pastor) who is undoutbetly obsessed with Bono. And has a teenage girl in HIS youth group now that is constantly doing the eye roll. He’ll be mega comforted by this.
Shaun Groves says:
I’m here to serve.
Ken Summerlin says:
As the father of 2 grown sons, I have some really good news for you: the same kids that are embarrassed by you now, who don’t want anyone to know that they swam out of the same gene pool as you, will one day come to admire and respect you again!
OK, I know it’s hard to believe but when you catch your breath, read on. It’s true, they will, of their own free will, decide that you’re not so bad after all. They will come to you for advice again . . . yep, the very same kids that thought you were totally stupid, will actually appreciate and respect you. And let me tell ya, the day that this happens is a glorious day!
Look forward to it. Your day will come.
Shana says:
I too am comforted… I know the eye rolls are coming, but right now, my kids are still the age where they think I’m cool and actually ask me to come volunteer in their classrooms… Poor Kids, I’m the complete farthest thing from cool that there is.
But, I’m comforted by the fact that you were singing Gold Digger…. that song has some sort of hypnotic ability that, upon hearing it, causes you to sing it for the rest of the day!! I feel guilty every single time… I guess it’s my guilty pleasure~
Karen F. says:
Ha!
Love it.
My children are in a continual state of embarrassment, and I’m just fine with that!
kiriseth (a.k.a. mom2stinkbumps) says:
I take every opportunity to embarrass my kid. I mean, why else have them but to have someone to torture, right?!? My favored form of torture is to sing loudly and in public while my son is with me. My piece de resistance was when we went to see the 3D re-release of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in the movie theatre and I sang along through every. single. song. By the time the movie was over, my son (9 at the time, I think) was slunk down in his seat so low it’s a miracle he didn’t ooze out of the space between the seat and the back of the chair! It’s also fun to burst out into random showtunes as I schlepp him and his best friends around town. ๐
Cindy says:
Too funny!! My oldest is 7 (and a HALF–I’ve been instructed to mention) and has started being embarrassed by me. I don’t sing or anything, but do try to kiss him goodbye each morning, and wow, has that become a no-no of astronomical proportions!
I double-dog-dare you to play Baby Got Back ๐
Meredith Dunn says:
I just had a middle-school flashback reading this. My older brother picked me up one time, having written out my name on his notebook paper and laying it behind the windshield wipers, while hanging out the window and honking in the horn, yelling “MERE! MERE! OVER HERE!” Private school car pool lines, by the way, are no more than 6 cars long. I couldn’t have missed if I wanted to. And it didn’t help that all my friends, and some teachers, thought he was “hot.” Worst day ever.
Angie Godsey says:
I loved this! I read this right after a “family meeting” and I must say the laugh was great medicine!
I say be as wierd as possible so your kids will rebell and be normal;-)
Nina says:
Ha! I loved this. I can still remember the FIRST time my dad embarrassed me. He was wearing a very tight pair of acid washed jeans. ๐
Dad says:
I embarrassed Shaun’s sister daily by using my “bullet hole” riddled car to drop her off and pick her up from middle school.
The “bullet holes” were actually holes I drilled in a crumpled fender in an attempt to pull the dents out without paying an actual body shop to repair it. My attempts to repair it (or at least minimize the size of the dents) were unsuccessful, so I drove the car that way for several years – thus traumatizing my daughter.
Kris says:
Thanks for this, a great read this morning, as I gear up to start another day of homeschooling my kids, who are rapidly becoming *that* age where things I do embarases them. *sigh*. Hee hee. Rawk on, Dude.
Kris says:
My kids are weird. They don’t do that. My oldest is 12…it makes me wonder if I should be concerned about their mental development. I mean, aren’t they supposed to reach a point where they stop liking me until they reach college age and want food money?
Jabber Jaws says:
My 4 kids go to a small private school and we have to drop off at two locations in the morning. First, we drop off my 13 year old daughter then all the others. Today, my almost 4 year old leaned towards the window and screeched at his sister, “run from the Dragon and be the Dinosaur.” ALL the other kids getting out of their cars stopped and stared. She turned and with a death look at the offender told him that the Dragon was waiting for him in his cubby and then she strutted into her Christ loving school. I couldn’t drive from laughing so hard.
There’s nothing better than when they get to each other and not in a mean way – well, a little mean, and my Ryan did tell me that he was not going to put his lunch in his cubby today. So, I took it even further and said that was a relief because the Dragon would eat it….. I keep waiting for an email from his teacher about cubby phobia.
Jabber Jaws says:
Sorry, I have to inquire do you sing the original version or do you go full out Glee version? I heart the Glee soundtrack version (the show is odd but great soundtracks). Don’t underestimate the value of Busta Move or U B Illin (One day when I was chillin at Kentucky Fried Chicken…..). Those are my songs of shame.
Shaun Groves says:
Glee version only.
Kelly @ Love Well says:
Classic.
(Do you have a collection of feather boas in your closet? I didn’t know that was a requisite for soft rock stars. I always thought it was more of a big hair 80s thing.)
Shaun Groves says:
The boas are in my daughter’s dress-up clothes. But hypothetically I could borrow them for special date nights ; )
Hey, Becky likes hair bands, what can I say?
amy in peru says:
you are AWESOME!
you obviously have to do this now, and report back. preferably with pictures. ๐
but, must you play Baby Got Back?! yikes.
๐
amy in peru
Chris says:
Oh this made me laugh. Nothing wrong with a little embarassment is there.
My 4-yr-old son said to me last week (in front of someone else) the following:
“Oh Mamma. You look sooo beeeautiful today.”
(Mama melts)
And then he proceeded to follow it up with a:
“When did that happen?”
Melissa Gorzelanczyk says:
I loved this! I have a 12 and 11 year old, so I happen to be one of the most embarrassing humans on the planet. For school orientation, my 12 yo said: “Don’t wear anything embarrassing.” I was taken aback. “Are my clothes embarrassing??” She said: “Well yeah, those flowery pj pants you have.”
Sometimes you just have to laugh. Really hard.
Jamie F says:
This HYSTERICAL post is my introduction to your blog from Simplemom. So glad I read Tsh’s weekend links! I’ll be smiling about this all morning!
priest's wife says:
funny- I was just thinking of Bono today and MJS…love your blog’s art design
Dawn Camp says:
That’s a great story, the new one and the old one. With eight kids, I’ve caused an unfathomable amount of embarrassment. Now that makes me laugh!
Gisela says:
Laughing! With a tinge of pain in my heart. That passage we cross from superheros to embarrassments comes all too quickly.
My son came up with his own way I was “allowed” to say I LOVE YOU to him without anyone else knowing or seeing. I can squeeze his arm 3 times
1) I
2) LOVE
3) YOU
Melt your heart sweet, or what??? Thanks Shaun for the great story!
[email protected] says:
This brought back memories of my dad. I was thirteen year old, walking the mall with my best friend. We were allowed the walk around “by ourselves”! It was so exciting.
Till we were walking on the second floor and heard someone yelling, “Girls. Oh Girls” from down below.
It was my father.
Boy did he enjoying yelling that from the first floor till I was ready to DIE of embarrassment, and my friend was ready to kill me because he was MY dad.
๐
Dana says:
“Normal”, as it has been said, is way over rated and too easily forgotten. Plus, as you have so well noted, you can not win.
Great insight