At some point, most parents will experience the humiliation that comes along with raising young children. Whether it’s brought on by a toddler’s inappropriate outburst or questionable parenting skills, these things happen. They might make parents want to run and hide, but they are moments that will go down in family history.
Bluffton mom Nancy Rosen was mortified when her son shared his potty humor with their new rabbi. The Rosen family had just joined Congregation Beth Yam and enrolled their 6-year-old twins, David and Adam, in religious school there. They attended a “Meet the Rabbi” parent brunch with their sons, and that’s where it happened.
“We brought the boys to the rabbi when David announced in his loudest voice, ‘Look what I can do,’ which was followed by him shoving his hand into his shirt and (making) the loudest armpit fart I have ever heard,” Rosen said. “Fortunately, our rabbi is very down to earth and responded with a hearty laugh.”
Bluffton mom Jody Snow’s most embarrassing parenting moment was when all three of her kids covered themselves from head to toe in diaper cream.
Anyone who has ever put too much diaper cream on a kid knows that the stuff does not come off easily. Well, Snow tried to clean off her children in the bathtub, but it just got worse. The cream started running into their eyes, which led to toddler hysteria times three.
Not only had Snow’s children – ages 2, 3 and 4 – slathered themselves in diaper cream; they also hid their mother’s phone. She needed to call 911 because her kids’ eyes were burning. She quickly messaged her husband from the computer, asking him to call 911.
The EMTs came, and one of the children did need to go to the ER to have his eyes checked, but everyone was okay in the end. Snow had a good laugh with the EMTs, and they even helped her find her phone.
Unfortunately, parents don’t always get that kind of response when their children misbehave.
Bluffton mom Melanie Heyward received quite a few dirty looks from parade goers a couple of years ago, when her 2-year-old mispronounced the word “firetruck.”
“Imagine being at the Bluffton Christmas Parade, and here comes Santa and Mrs. Claus on the BTFD firetruck, and having your 2-year-old yell out, ‘Santa’s on the firef**k! Santa’s on the firef**k!'” Heyward said. “I wanted to crawl into a hole, but I just loudly said, ‘Yes! I see Santa on the firetruck!'”
Then there are the times when parents embarrass themselves with no help from their children at all.
Kara Morrison of Bluffton said she had a case of “mommy brain” when she returned to work after giving birth to her first child. She was waiting tables at Truffles and struck up a conversation about her new son with one of her customers.
“The woman was very knowledgeable, and about halfway through the meal, I finally asked why she looked familiar,” Morrison said. “She said, ‘I’m your pediatrician.'”
While these embarrassing moments aren’t pleasant at the time, the memories of them can provide a lifetime of laughter.
Amy Coyne Bredeson of Bluffton is a freelance writer, a mother of two and a volunteer with the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.
