Anyone have parents that say embarrassing things to people about you while you are around? Just so you can feel bad...Sometimes you want to say, "Shut the F... up!", but you wouldn't dare.
[Edited 4/15/10 19:10pm]

Every now and then, my dad says some things that make me go .

i used to feel that way but i came back down to Earth.

Yes!
And when I'm clearly uncomfortable, my Mom will turn to me and say, "What? You don't want me telling that, do you?"

OR... she'll break out the pix: dancing school costumes, bad hair, ugly clothes...

peacenlovealways said:

Depends what you mean by embarrassing

No. They have never embarassed me in public. When talking about me, my dad often makes sarcastic jokes but as we have the same sense of humour I play along and it's actually quite fun and never embarassing!

Now, my grandmother for example, she will say things that I don't like everyone to know...

oh yeah. My mum is German, so tact and diplomacy were not available in her social skills catalogue :braceshimselfforresponsesfromgermanorgers:

She freely admits this herself. So a day out when I was a nipper was punctuated pretty painfully by my mothers temper tirades against anyone who was less than totally efficient.

Visits to school were beyond description

I picked some of it up and I have to say it comes in handy when all else fails

vivid said:

Consider yourself lucky I am Austrian and not German .

peacenlovealways said:

Aren't all parents are at some point though?

My folks embarrass me, but I know its not on purpose.

My mother for example told a room full of people about a joke I made about a certain relative WHILE he was in the room my heart fell on my ass when she did that and I wish the earth swollowed me then.

Of course I didn't make that joke out of mean spiritedness, but when you're in the centre of scrutiny, you couldn't give a shit about how "well intentioned" a joke is

In my case its worse though, at least when it comes to consistently embarrassing parents, at least you know how to dodge the bullet and sometimes even shrug it off,,,my mother is sharp and she doesn't put my ass on display, but being the unpredictable person she is, sometimes she'll say something outrageous out of thin air without any prior warnings.
[Edited 4/16/10 3:59am]

Serious said:

Yeah, but you're much the same, aren't you?

vivid said:

My mom was embarrassing sometimes and still is on rare occasions, but that hasn't got anything to do with her being Austrian . Austrians or Germans may be more honest than Americans when it comes to small talk, but that's not a bad thing at all IMO .

Serious said:

Yeah, but I'm English so you have to multiply the effect of that many times.

You're right though - it can be a good thing - noone messes with my mother twice, but on the other hand she has lost a lot of friends over the years, largely as a result of just being too direct. The English are annoyingly antithetical to this, so you can imagine the scene.

vivid said:

Ohoh, I see . I am a very direct person, but with the years I learned to tell my honest opinion in more polite words. In most cases that works .

I hardly talk to her now, but when I ask her questions to get a conversation going, "She says use your damn brain." or "You have no sense." When I ask her about something I read in the paper or saw on the news...she complains, because I'm telling her something she already knows..., but we can at least discuss it. Now her face and just thinking about her makes me sick...there are other things too, but I need to move, I missed my opportunity awhile back and I'm so pissed at myself. I could have been so happy in my own place.

peacenlovealways said:

Beloved, I am "the parent". IMO, it's not cool to behave in a manner that hurts the feelings of your grown offspring. That said. Parents do need their space, just like everyone else. And will show resentment in many ways, too. We're human, after all. Go figure. (We can sass too.)

Yes, you should move asap.

Myself: After years (his age: 12 to 27) of putting up with my son's growning pains & sass, I finally told my son he had to move within 60 days. His wage had improved, so there were no more valid reasons to use as excuses. I had to maintain some peace in MY apartment, his first home. Now he loves his freedom & I mine.

You will too. Then perhaps things will change in your relationship with your mom.
[Edited 4/16/10 14:33pm]

Boriqua1130 said:

thanks!

No, not really

God yes! happens all the time, i'm like wth are they talking about?

peacenlovealways said:

You're welcome sweety. @)--}-----

My mom used to piss me off something terrible when I was a kid. People would say, "Oh, you're such a beautiful little girl! What a pretty face!" My mother would quip, "Oh, don't tell her that; she has a big enough head already!" which was a complete lie. If anything, she gave me an inferiority complex saying shit like that. It took me years to finally get over it. And finally I had to literally "bless her out." I wasn't disrespectful, but I told her I was tired of hearing her criticisms and to never disparage me again.

It's why I live 1100 miles from my parents.

ernestsewell said:

Well, my dad moved to Australia in '87, and then I moved abroad for 6 years too

It's rare that my parents embarras me - if they do it's because they're either a bit too direct or blunt with someone or because they gush about me or my accomplishments (which is a nice form of embarrasment - at least it's because they're proud of me)