apparently i've gotten to the age where i'm uncool. or maybe it's just that my children have gotten to the age where they think i'm uncool. let me rephrase that: one of my children has reached that age. either way you look at it, i got an unmistakable eye roll and overexagerated sigh from madelyn the other day when i used one of her favorite sayings "easy peasy, lemon squeezy".
"mom..." she scolded, only she drew this word out into about 3 syllables as if i had just said something truly heinous.
"what?" i asked.
"nothing."
okay, so maybe i'm just a big dork and nobody has the heart to tell me. but the last time i checked, i wasn't completely hideous, i didn't dress that unstylish, and i didn't act that humiliating in public. but i have to face the fact that, no matter what i do, my children are going to be embarrassed of me at some point in time. i just didn't think that time was going to be when they were 7. who knows, maybe my 3 year old is already embarrassed by me, too, but just doesn't know how to express it yet.
i remember the first time one of my parents made me want to crawl under a rock. i was in the 6th grade, and the school was hosting a "parents vs teachers" basketball game. and, wouldn't you know it, my dad played in it. if i'm figuring it correctly, he was about 45 at the time, which i now consider to be pretty darn young. but at the time, he seemed ancient. and i remember what he wore: matching red cotton shorts and tank top. yes, a tank top. if daddy were to get in front of a million people today and play basketball, i'd be proud as punch because i think the man is awesome and hung the moon. but at 12 years old, i was absolutely mortified. i was physically sick for the week before the big game. i mean, how could my parents do this to me? show school spirit and participate in activities to raise money for my education?? ugh!
looking back, i remember that daddy did a pretty good job. and he did look cute in his matching outfit and new nikes. he probably didn't think twice about playing in that game; i bet it never even crossed his mind that i might be embarrassed of him playing ball in front of the entire school. likewise, i think nothing of it when i belt out some tunes at the top of my lungs in the car while madelyn and my niece abigail are in the backseat (you have to understand, abigail's opinion is very important to madelyn). or when i eat lunch with her at school. i wonder if she's secretly thinking, "oh my gosh, i can't believe she is singing...her voice is horrendous!" or "um, what is she thinking coming to school wearing that?"
oh well, i'm not going to worry about it too much for now. because i know that madelyn tends to overreact sometimes and i would never do anything to intentionally embarrass her in front of her peers. plus, i still have a few years of coolness left in me before she has a real reason to be humiliated by my mere existence...maybe.
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