Teens are often embarrassed by their parents leaving notes in their lunchboxes and sharing baby photos with their current crush. “Moooom, stop!” But little do they know, their parents learned from the best. Because when these kids were younger, they were wreaking havoc on Mom and Dad, humiliating them everywhere they went…
Below, you’ll find some hilarious stories that parents have shared on Reddit, detailing the most embarrassing things their kids have ever said and done in public. So enjoy scrolling through these silly tales, and keep reading to find a conversation with mom and parenting expert, Dayna Abraham!
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My daughter screamed 'SERIOUSLY?' in church when they made the congregation stand one too many times for her liking. She’s nine.
Give that kid a medal for saying out loud what we all think about sometimes! :))
I had just gone to the bathroom after a big pork chop dinner at a nice restaurant. The stench was heavy on the air, but there was nothing I could do about it. The pork chops had cleared out the pipes.
As I came out of the stall, a father and his young son came in and the kid shouts, “Holy cow! What the hell died in here? It stinks!”
Then he makes eye contact with me in the mirror as I’m washing my hands, points, and goes “Was that YOU? Yuck!!!”
I’m not easily embarrassed, and I laughed, but I have to admit, this kid had nailed me to the wall, and I *was* a little embarrassed. His dad seemed to notice that, and goes, without missing a beat, “Yeah, well Josh. When you take a c**p it doesn’t exactly smell like flowers either.“
Wherever that guy is, I salute you. Dads of the world unite.
The perfect ending would be the dad making his son use the stall that had just been turd-nuked.
My 3 year old was singing about dinosaurs loudly at the grocery store and I told her I loved her singing, but asked her to please use her inside voice. She randomly came out with "Im sorry mommy! Please dont lock me in the closet!" And a whole bunch of people turned to look at me. I've never once locked her in a closet! Theres no room in our closet even if I wanted to!
To gain more insight on this topic, we reached out to mom, author and founder of the popular parenting website Lemon Lime Adventures, Dayna Abraham. Dayna was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda, jokingly noting that it might be easier to count how often her kids don't embarrass her, rather than how often they do.
"I remember when my oldest (now 18) was three, we were in Bed Bath & Beyond, and he didn't know what something was," Dayna shared. "So at the top of this lungs he shouted, 'What the f*ck!' Because earlier in the week when I heard him say this when he stepped in water, I had said, 'Oh, I think you mean: What's this? What's happened?'"
We were at my daughters choir performance, sitting dead center in the front row. Right before the performance starts, as the entire room is dead silent and the choir director is lifting her arms, my seven year old rips the LOUDEST fart. Without missing a beat, he yells “Mom! Why did you fart?”.
I wanted to melt into the gym floor. All I could do was stare forward with my cheeks on fire.
When my daughter was 2, we went on a long flight. At one point, a flight attendant was near, and my daughter looked up and said, "Piece of a*s!" The flight attendant gave me (father) the worst look! Like, I think she assumed that my daughter was repeating something that she had heard me say.
What I knew, however, was that my daughter had a bit of a funny accent when pronouncing certain words, and I explained to the flight attendant, "She would like a piece of *ice*. Ice."
I don't think she believed me, but she put some ice in a cup and handed it to my daughter who happily looked at it and said, "A*s! A*s!" At that, the flight attendant stated laughing and forgave me.
I bet the father winked at the daughter after the flight attendant left, but doesn't want to admit i! :))
One time I was in a changing room at a women’s clothing store with my then-two-year-old, trying on a new top. It was the type of fitting room with a curtain across the entrance that you just pull closed when you’re inside.
Well, my toddler apparently got bored with watching me try on clothes, so he ripped open the curtain and ran off at top speed into the (fairly busy) store.
I did not have time to think - he has always been super active and he could really move when the mood struck him, so my reflexes were to get to him and grab him as quickly as possible.
So, half-naked wearing just my bra (which was not by any means a nice bra), pale and flabby because it was the winter months, I ran after him out of the changing room and across the store, loudly shouting his name (which caused all the shoppers in the immediate vicinity to turn and look).
He was actually halfway out the door and into the shopping centre by the time I was able to catch him, and then I had to scuttle awkwardly back to the fitting rooms, bright red, embarrassed to within an inch of my life.
Obviously, he thought - and still thinks to this day when I tell him this story - it was hilarious.
"While these moments are funny to look back on, there have been many moments raising an autistic child that I have felt embarrassed in public for not so funny things," Dayna added. "For example, one time my child was melting down in the parking lot of Starbucks and screaming at me while cars just drove by and stared."
But she gives kids the benefit of the doubt, noting that they're probably not intentionally embarrassing their parents. "Instead, I think that parents have expectations, and society has placed so many expectations on [us] that parents take their children's behaviors personally," Dayna explained. "Children (especially young children) aren't self aware and aren't aware of social 'normalcies' yet, so what they think is normal can be very embarrassing or humiliating for parents."
Recently we were walking into the store right before a snowstorm, and naturally there were people hoarding cases of water into their car like it was about to be the apocalypse. My son (8, and loves math) looked at them as we were walking by and was LOUDLY asking why they needed so much water. I laughed it off, but this kid did the math of how many bottles were in each pack and how many cases they loaded into their car and was like “what are they going to do with 210 bottles of water at one time? they really couldn’t leave any for other people?”
He’s not wrong but shut up 😂
My daughter has one volume level: loud. And we talk a lot about being safe and making bad decisions. "Mom! That kid isn't being safe. He's STUPID!" is said relatively often 😅
We were in the pet food aisle of a grocery store and talking about how our dog was very old when he died and how our cat was quite old and we weren’t sure how much longer he would have to live.
This older woman was sharing the aisle with us and my 4yo son turns to point at her and says “so this lady…” and I had to scoop him up very quickly before he could finish his sentence.
We were standing in line to get on a plane and my oldest (who was 3 at the time) pointed to the man directly behind us who had a very large stomach and said very loudly "he is having a baby!"
Luckily he was such a good sport and was so kind. But I had to explain a couple things to her after that haha
We were also curious if Dayna believes her kids will always find ways to embarrass her. "I definitely think that there are always opportunities for kids to embarrass their parents. And as they hit teen and young adult years, they find it more fun to poke fun at their parents," she told Bored Panda. "If parents and kids create a strong bond, the joking and silliness can be a fun source of connection as their relationship grows."
I'm currently 38 weeks pregnant and my 6 year old told a cashier:
"My mom looks fat when she's naked, but when she's wearing clothes she looks pregnant"
This was literally out of nowhere and unprompted.
She's not wrong, so I just thanked her for sharing.
My 4 year old daughter saw someone wearing a full niqab at a playground and said out loud “is she a ninja? It’s not even halloween?” I was so embarrassed
This one almost made me burst into laughter!!! I'm in the office, with my manager next to me...
In the grocery store this weekend, my son yelled "why is that lady screaming at her baby?!" in a very loud, very shocked tone. It was embarrassing for everyone around but maybe now that lady won't be screaming at her toddler in public anymore.
Dayna also says it's important for parents to take embarrassment with laughter when it comes to light-hearted mistakes. "If there are extremely challenging behaviors that are embarrassing, I want parents to know this doesn't mean your child is 'bad' or you are failing as a parent," the expert shared.
"Allow yourself to remove the judgement from others and focus on the relationship between you and your child," Dayna continued. "You can learn more about how to release the pressure of onlookers in my book, Calm the Chaos: A Failproof Roadmap to Parenting Even the Most Challenging Kids."
A little person walked by us in the store qnd my son shouted "daddy that lady is so tiny. Daddy I love her she is so tiny."
Lol God damn it.
The answer is “People come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Isn’t that wonderful?!”
This happened to a friend. She was shopping with her toddler and needed to use the bathroom. She had her period so the toddler must have noticed her pad. In the supermarket later the toddler announced loudly to the cashier, “My Mum has a Band-Aid in her undies!”.
My son would ask random men if they were his daddy. I am married to his father!!! He knows exactly who his dad is!
I was walking my 2 year old with the stroller and an elderly man was walking toward us. He had a white beard. A large belly. And happened to be wearing a bright red shirt.
Can you guess what happened next?
2 year old, yelling at the top or his lungs and frantically pointing at the man:
- SANTA CLAUS! Mommy look that's Santa Claus! Look mommy, look there he is!
We're still some distance away from this poor man, so I think there's a chance he didn't hear us and I cross to the other side of the street to avoid him hearing us. I try to calm the kid down but he's too excited to even hear me.
2 year old yells louder:
- Mommy, that's Santa Claus!!! PRESEEEEENTS! WHERE ARE MY PRESENTS!?!
We were on the other side of the street but I'm pretty sure he heard and he definitely saw my kid pointing at him and jumping up and down in his stroller. He did not seem to find it cute though.
Although, to be fair, you can't look like Santa and dress like Santa and not expect toddlers to lose their s**t lol.
We were at Target and my son was about 3 at time and he grabbed tampons off the shelf and said “here’s the things you put up your butt, mom!”
Dad here. We were at the grocery store and saw this monster of a man, definitely a bodybuilder - he was like 6’3” 250 pounds of muscle. We pass him in an aisle and my boy (3 or 4 at the time) says to him “my dad can beat you up”. I look at the giant man and he just smirks (in a non threatening way). We go about our business as usual (no; I didn’t correct my son, I let him think I was Superman as long as he wanted too)
My daughter mooned the grocery store while I was putting our stuff on the counter to be scanned. I have no idea how long she had her pants down, but I heard laughing and turned and there she was, butt hanging out.
We were in Albertson's and my 2--3 yr old daughter stops, pulls down her pants. "I just pooted, thought I pooped" Deli ladies glowered at me like I taught her that.
Not my kid, but my brother. It was Christmas Eve mass and he was about 3 or 4. Brother snuck out of his seat, laid down on the priest's feet, and loudly sobbed "We go home now?!". I have never seen my mom so red. The priest just laughed it off and said that was his cue to stop talking.
When I was younger, it wasn't me but another younger child in my parents church started crying and the parents were getting dirty looks from some of the old biddies. Well the pastor at the time noticed and say, "let the child cry it means the church family is growing and that's a good thing"
Took my daughter, I think she was three at the time, into the public restroom with me. She loudly started asking why I have hair on my butt…
this one doesn't finish the full comment- it ends with "it wasn't my butt".
After my daughter was potty trained, she liked the freedom of not having a diaper. One day, our daycare teacher called to see when I was coming to pick up my daughter because she was going to stay past her shift to talk to me about something. Naturally, I worried until I arrived at daycare.
Earlier in the day, my sweet cherub had grabbed herself (Michael Jackson style) and said, 'I have a ‘gina' then pointed directly to her teacher’s crotch and said, 'And you do too.' She then went around informing the other teachers that they too had 'a ‘gina.' Everyone had a good laugh that day. I was embarrassed but just shrugged and said, 'Well, she’s not wrong.'
An older woman wearing a big, black, cloak-looking jacket with a visible wart on her nose said hi to my daughter at the grocery store when she was almost 3. Daughter glared at her and immediately yelled "go away you're a witch!"
She used to be obsessed with Snow White and honestly this lady did kinda look like the witch in that movie lol. As soon as I saw her I knew what my daughter would be thinking I was just praying she wouldn't say it. The lady was actually pretty nice about it but I was so embarrassed lol.
I wonder if the mom had told the lady that she looked like an actress in Snow White, she may have taken that as a compliment. And made her feel better.
We were in a health and beauty shop. Not too many customers and talking about our holidays as we were shopping for sun tan lotion when my 5 year old pipes up with, ‘remember when you closed the pool at the hotel because you pooped in the pool’ a lady turned and started giggling. I was mortified.
The truth - someone did poop in the pool and the pool had to be shut for the day to clean it but I didn’t do it, see it or have anything to do with it. I didn’t even enter the pool that day 🙈
When we met with our realtor for the first time, my 5 year old was sitting on top of a large plastic storage bin while we talked. This kid has clearly been feral during COVID and has not been around anyone but family. In the middle of our visit, the kid let out an impressively lengthy fart that was made even louder by the plastic he was sitting on. Thank goodness the realtor just laughed and high fived him. We are socializing him more now 😊
My daughter asks every bald man if he is her daddy, even if we are with her daddy.
My son went through a very long phase of trying to put his finger in belly buttons when he was a toddler. If he was near me, he was reaching for my belly button. So annoying. Anyway, kiddo was 2 1/2 or so and I was really sick and had no one to watch my son, so I took him to urgent care with me. There was a very large man in a very small t-shirt, that prominently showed of his massive black hole of a belly button. I didn't notice the man or his belly button at first, but kiddo sure did. I'm signing into the doctor, and kiddo is struggling to be put down. I put him down and he makes a bee line for this guy with his little finger pointing at the object of his obsession. Kiddo get's to this guy, pulls the t-shirt up, and plunges is whole tiny fist into this massive, hairy belly button. The guy was super nice about it. Wasn't even offended when I took kiddo to the rest room to wash his hand really well. Then the three of us spent an eternity in that waiting room. Kiddo was angry he couldn't fondle the strangers button, the guy was not comfortable at all about any of it, and I just wanted to sink into the floor.
Toddler threw wine bottles out of the shopping cart (2 of them, both red, shattered everywhere) and said screamed “no more wine Mommy”.
I was in the bathroom at the zoo with my then 3 year old and she stuck her head under the side of the stall and yelled "I peeking!" at the person in the stall next to us.
Taking toddlers to public bathrooms is usually a fun game of "How Can I Die From Embarrasment Today?". 😅
When my son was about 1.5, he pointed at a woman’s generous cleavage with a confused face and asked her “bum”?
It was more funny than embarrassing but it was my first realization that kids have zero filter.
My son told the nurse we are homeless and live under a bench. We're not. We've never been.
He overheard me telling my sister that I wanted to move and didn't care if we moved to a bridge 🤣.
Kids!
One time my daughter said "mommy I wish we lived in the car cause then we would share a room and I would be with you ALLL the time" it was really sweet but be careful what you wish for, my love. I did live in the car during my pregnancy so the thought terrified me. Now she is 10 and barely wants me in her room.
In 2020 when I had to bring my 2yo daughter to the store with me, she would see everyone with a mask on and start fake coughing loudly. She associated masks with doctors and being sick I guess. It was cringe worthy and I had to rush out of the store because I couldn’t get her to stop. Everyone would give us nasty looks. The store finally offered pick up orders so we avoided the store for a long time 😅
My kid really did get sick at the checkout during covid. She started throwing up, so I shoved a bag from the register under her head. Everyone treated us like it was the plague except for one dad who was sympathetic and said "God it's hell when they get sick like that." like what was I supposed to do, snobby mothers? Pick her up and charge out of the store as she threw up all over the ground? Have some compassion. This story just reminded me of that since it was during covid. She was fine just too much excitement from a birthday party and not a lot of sleep from excitement the night before. Used to happen a lot
At a funeral and 3/4 of the way through the priest is saying something about going home, and in this huge church comes a high pitched voice " He died?" It brought the service to a halt, you couldn't help but laugh.
After going to the bathroom with me in the grocery store, randomly out of the blue my 4 year old daughter shouts “mommy you pooped in the store!”
She wasn’t wrong.. but not everyone needed to know.
When my nephew was about 4 he was in the car with me, my husband and my mum and he very innocently goes “is head and d**k a naughty word?” I’m shocked so I go “excuse me?” He repeats the questions. I tell him that yes it is a naughty word and he shouldn’t really say it but ask where he heard it. He goes “I heard mummy say ‘Alex you’re a d******d’” (Alex is his dad). Very funny.
I was 3 when they were changing a male mannequin at a store. I loudly said "Mummy, who doesn't that man have a penis?" Mum swears my voice echoed through the whole department store. She was mortified. I think it sounds funny.
When my nephew was about 4, Granny took him to the restaurant washroom before an outing, and urged him to try to pee. After trying and not producing, he said to her "my penis is tired."
Load More Replies...Oops and tugs on her sleeve and tells, "excuse me lady but you have a big Daddy Long Legs on your chin".
I was 3 when they were changing a male mannequin at a store. I loudly said "Mummy, who doesn't that man have a penis?" Mum swears my voice echoed through the whole department store. She was mortified. I think it sounds funny.
When my nephew was about 4, Granny took him to the restaurant washroom before an outing, and urged him to try to pee. After trying and not producing, he said to her "my penis is tired."
Load More Replies...Oops and tugs on her sleeve and tells, "excuse me lady but you have a big Daddy Long Legs on your chin".