Monday Musings by Melinda M.

1) Show up at her (new) work place
My teenage daughter got her first job this summer at a local drive-in, which for non-Hawaii readers is not a drive-in at all but a family-run eatery where you usually walk up to a counter and order something from the pressed letter menus above the stainless steel work station. I was so proud of her and, like for all of her other “firsts” – steps, day of school, soccer game, high school dance – I wanted to see her in action and capture the milestone on camera. So, of course, I showed up to do that! It did not go well. While all of her co-workers thought it was cute that I showed up and seemed to enjoy meeting me, my daughter felt quite the opposite.

2) Take pictures
I just wanted 1 or 2 action shots! Is that too much to ask? Apparently it was. I didn’t even need her to pose for me but I definitely didn’t want her to purposefully pose away from me! As soon as I would snap the picture, she’d turn her head away or roll her eyes or some other clear indication that I needed to stop. Argh – just one picture, please!!

3) Laugh comfortably – i.e., heartily, loudly – at her workplace
So I ordered something to eat. And I ate it there, with my other teenage daughter, and as I thought about how much I was embarrassing my daughter and how savory it was to be on the delivering end of things after having been on the receiving end of it when I was a teenager, I just couldn’t help giggling. And as I started giggling and then seeing how just that simple act was making my younger daughter squirm in her seat, I started giggling louder. And then thinking about how my giggling was probably now reaching my older daughter’s ears back in the kitchen (which it was), I just got louder and then louder still as I saw the ricochet effect it was having on my younger daughter and before you know it, I could barely breathe! Oh, I had become The Embarrassing Mom! I had done it and the thought of it was sending me into hysterics.

Now for extra “embarrassing your daughter” credit in the new millennium:

4) Post about it using cringe-worthy hashtags that you didn’t know were “cringe-y”
Later that day, I posted the proud momma picture I went down there to take. I put what I thought were the “right” hashtags to use but apparently, hashtags are supposed to be ironic or sardonic or something other than literal because ohmygodmomthatwastheworst. Sigh. So much to learn – or not! #amotherstradition