I get it. Parents are SO embarrassing. Like, just by existing, they are embarrassing you. I mean, who knows who is going to see you at 11am on a Wednesday in Panera? It could be anyone. I mean, I was cringing for you when your parents sat on the same side of the booth and actually acted like they enjoyed each other’s company. Humiliating, right?
I mean, 7th grade Kelsey was totally you. My mom wouldn’t let me go to the mall by myself with my friends and I made her trail behind us so it was like she wasn’t with us. It made sense at the time, I mean, you always see someone you know at the mall, right?
Well, the problem is, after going through a terrible stepfather experience when I was 15, I suddenly realized my mom wasn’t so bad after all. I mean, she protected us from the horrors of emotional abuse while she was going through it herself. I saw my mother going through an emergency divorce, and I thought, that’s what a strong woman looks like.
You Are Your Mom
I mean, seriously. Unless your mom is Joe Carroll or something. Then, don’t be your mom. But you will reach a certain age and when you are explaining to your husband or wife that vacuuming helps you relieve stress and would he/she please understand the power of Diet Dr. Pepper, you will realize you are your mother. And it may take a bit longer, but you’ll realize that your mom is one of the best women you know and maybe being a little bit like her isn’t so bad. After all, she whipped you and your brother into being pretty awesome, so she can’t be that terrible.
Your Family is Awesome
I mean, your family is probably pretty kickass. Trust me on this one. Your cousins/siblings/aunts/uncles/grandparents were your first social experience and taught you how to either be awesome or what not to do, depending on your family’s level of Joe Carroll-ness. So don’t waste more precious years than you have to avoiding them. You never know when they aren’t going to be there anymore.
Some of my baller family.
Also, your family is there when your friends are the ones embarrassing you or just being all around shitty. And trust me: girls are pretty shitty to one another sometimes. So don’t be shitty to the only people who know the worst about you and still love you with all their hearts anyway.
So, Hayley/Sarah/whoever you are, don’t be embarrassed by your parents. They are actually pretty cool people and when you think about it, half of them makes up 100% of you, so when you are hating them, you are really hating yourself. And when you realize that ignoring your mom in a mall didn’t make you any cooler then than it does now, you may realize that you’d have a lot better go of it letting your mom into your life more. After all, she did birth you into existence.
And as for your parents’ affection for one another? Cherish that. Even kids of a “good” divorce have to struggle with splitting up their time for the rest of their lives. Be lucky your parents still like each other, because if you get married, you’ll learn that love is hard sometimes, even if neither person does anything awful, and coming out the other side still wanting to talk to that person?? Sometimes it feels like a miracle.