These 21 completely irrational things you were embarrassed by as a kid were so dumb

Being seen in public with my parents? I could NEVER


School was a tough time for us all. When the only purpose was to learn a little about the world and make some friends along the way, we were thrown into an environment that was so often scary, anxiety-inducing and downright stupid that we dreamt of days when we could leave and never return. For pretty much everyone, the transition from childhood to being a teenager was made all the more difficult by how embarrassing everything was.

Seriously, with that many judgemental eyes on you from your hundreds of peers, how could you not want to literally die when having to take part in mundane activities like attending parents evenings, getting dropped off at school by your parents or wearing your less favoured school trousers?! Although it all seems so small and stupid, it was certainly a big deal back then, so let’s take a look back at the stupidest things that we got embarrassed by as children.

Walking through town with your parents was social suicide

This must’ve been the most embarrassing thing you could have to endure as a child. What if your school friends saw you spending time with the people that you spent pretty much every minute out of school with? No way.

Parents would force you to hand your CV into shops by hand

To be fair, this is probably embarrassing to anyone of any age, but being a child everything is amplified by 10 times. The thought of shoppers doing their thing in Paperchase and having a little spotty teenager coming in with a bag full of CVs asking where the manager is… it gives me goosebumps.

Wearing your least favourite uniform to school because your nice ones were in the wash

That extra amount of fabric that used to swing in the wind from your larger, less favourable trousers was just so embarassing, and often worth digging your nice school clothing out of the washing basket just so you wouldn’t have to endure the eyes staring you down in the playground.

Parents telling you to come downstairs and say hello to a family friend

“Harry come downstairs and say hello!”

Look, mum. I’m enjoying my time playing Singstar upstairs on Playstation. That’s right, I’m singing Waterloo by ABBA, I’ve been hitting every note excellently and the last thing I want to do is come downstairs and say hello to some friend of yours who couldn’t give a toss about me and vice versa. Nobody wants to suffer the same old small talk about how school is going and what I get up to at the weekends – got it?

The fear that one of your parents would complain when you went out for a meal

If you were unlucky enough to have parents that weren’t afraid to voice their opinions in public, this was a living nightmare. It would only take something seriously mundane (like the food took too long or the potatoes weren’t quite crisp enough) for them to decide to talk to the waiter.

God forbid they actually tried to ask for a discount.

Parents evenings at school were the most anxiety-inducing experience

There was objectively nothing worse about school than parents evenings. Having your parents being told in detail about both your grades and your behaviour from your teachers themselves, after weeks of tricking them into thinking that you were a golden child was traumatising, to say the least.

And let’s not even talk about them trying to mingle with other parents 🤢.

Asking to go to the loo and having the irrational fear of what the hell do you do if the teacher says no

“If there’s already someone in the bathroom then I’ll totally be called out in front of the class and I CANNOT go through that.”

Parents playing music in the car was PAINFUL

And it always seemed to happen on the school run, which was especially gruesome for those that had to endure it twice a day. Arguments with James Blunt loving mums and Dire Straits loving dads were the bread and butter of starting off the schoolday in a flustered mess before you’d even left the car.

Teachers telling you to answer a question when you obviously weren’t listening

AHHH! Why can’t you pick on someone your own size rather than me while I’m playing with my phone I hate you!!

Going to the local supermarket with parents and just begging nobody would see you

Often you’d end up sitting in the car with your earphones in as that was a much better option than going into the local supermarket where you were bound to see someone from school. In fact, being anywhere other than in the privacy of your home was such a traumatic experience when you were with your parents.

When forced, you’d have no choice but to mysteriously walk ahead of your family as if you were out on your own. Mum? I don’t know who that is. xx

Being called out for fancying someone in the playground ruined everything

Nothing worse. They know, you know, everyone else now knows, and all you want to do is for the ground to swallow you up.

You’d much rather secretly know that you fancied them rather than have them ever know that you fancied them, so it was particularly mortifying when people took it upon themselves to do the job for you.

Getting told to pair up in class but having no friends in that class

I do have friends, I just don’t have any in this class I promise! The struggle of either pairing with someone you half knew or having the teacher drag you into a pair… nope.

Parents talking to your friends in any capacity made you want to tear your ears off

They’d always find a way to say something embarrassing, whether it was inviting your friends round for some “tea”, trying to be overly young and hip or calling your grandparents stupid names in front of your mates

“Mama and papa want to see you this evening.” NOOOO I want to die!!!

Chewing your pen, getting ink in your mouth and having to explain to the teacher that you needed to go to the bathroom

Easier said than done when you’ve got a mouthful of BIC crystal ballpoint pen. The same can be said for nosebleeds – if you were one of the nosebleedy kids.

Parents showing any level of affection towards each other in front of others was horrifying

Wait… so you mean to tell me that my parents like each other and want to express this?

Parents doing anything on social media was and is still painful

Seeing parents grow into social media was an absolute nightmare. They always had and still have the worst conversations and comments on other people’s posts with overly personal details.

“Your aunt Jean had her smear test last week. Hope uni is going well!”

Having to present anything in class was difficult in so many ways

You didn’t know whether you wanted to laugh, cry or have a full-on panic. Need I say more?

The fear that your lunch was inadequate compared to others

Opening your lunchbox and instantly feeling eyes on you, judging every part of your lunch, was something we sadly had to deal with and oh boy, this was embarrassing. You just knew they were deconstructing your sandwich with their eyes, analysing in every eventuality what could possibly be going on at home for your mum to put Snackrite crisps in there as opposed to Walkers.

PE was a living nightmare for the majority of people

Who knew that running around a field could be the most embarrassing thing you could ever be forced to do? Especially when there were occasions that you had to mix with the other gender. Makes me feel sick.

It would’ve been easier to die on the spot than trip in the hallway

And finally, we have tripping in the hallway. You know when you become hyper-aware of how you walk and suddenly forget how to walk? To trip was to go down at least five rankings in the social pecking order.

I, and I cannot stress this enough, would rather pass away than trip in the hallway.

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