How embarrassing!

Think back to your own tween/teen years. If you’re around my age, it was all about wearing just the right pair of Calvin Klein or Jordache jeans, oversized comb stuffed into the back pocket. Making sure your hairstyle had just the right amount of eighties bigness and Farrah Fawcett feathering. It was so important to just blend in.

And no matter when you were a teen, do you remember how your parents could embarrass you just by breathing?

Well, now it’s our turn, and I’m thrilled! I actually think it’s my personal duty as a mother of teens to embarrass them whenever possible. It builds character, don’t you think?

I mean, my daughter has learned to hold her head up high with only the slightest eye roll whenever I burst into song as we approach crowded places together. And my son just hunches deeper over his ice cream cone as I finish mine, stand up, jam my pointer and pinkie fingers straight to the sky in the classic “rock on” pose, and shout “I am Joshua Bowne’s mom, and I’m proud!”

If you’re a parent like me and you’re looking for ways to help your teen build character. Here are my top five ways to embarrass your teen by hardly trying at all.

Number 5: Kissy Face. Whenever driving your teen somewhere to meet with friends, be sure to give her a big ol’ smoochy in full view of everybody. She’ll be happy her friends now know how much you love her and will miss her while she’s gone.

Number 4: LOL. Hey dawg! Lemme tell ya’ teens just love it when parents try to use the latest slang and hip IM terms. They especially enjoy it if you use those terms around their friends. You go girl! You’ll earn lots of props for this.

Number 3: Be Conspicuous. When picking your teen up from an event, it’s always nice to hang out of your car window waving and shouting greetings to all the boys and girls you recognize from elementary school, even if your teen no longer hangs out with them.
“Moooomm!” She’ll hiss climbing into the passenger seat. “I don’t even know him anymore!”
“He’s such a nice boy, you can’t say a simple hello?”
For some reason, this statement is greeted with deep sighs and enthusiastic eye-rolling.

Number 2: Telling Stories. Let’s say your teen is having a bunch of friends over. A great thing to do, is to share baby stories about her with all her friends. Anything concerning potty training or thumb sucking is always a big hit.

And the NUMBER ONE way to embarrass your teen?

Just breathing, baby! LOL.