Don't Embarrass Me

It doesn't take much for my son to say "Don't embarrass me, daddy!" when we're out in public. If I softly hum a tune at the grocery store, he'll pull on my shirt and plead for me to stop. God forbid I should sing, or even talk loudly, or draw any kind of attention to myself while he is within ten feet of me.

He's very self-conscious about people looking at him. And if he thinks I'm the cause of it, then he gets quite irate.

I don't do these things to embarrass my son. Sometimes I just have a little tune in my head which pops out while I'm studying soup labels. Or I feel like skipping from the milk case to the cat food aisle. Or I like to drum out a beat on the 2x4s at Home Depot.

But my son thinks it's all a conspiracy to make him die of shame. Maybe I should just tell him he's right, that parents are constantly thinking up new ways to cause their kids to cringe.

I'm tempted to take lessons from the guy in this video. The one wearing the orange shirt. Then I could really put on a show for my son, performing the Robot Dance for him and all his buddies at the next Cub Scout meeting!