New Phase of Parenting

Brady and I have entered a new phase of parenting, one which we are quite enjoying. We have entered the phase of EMBARRASSING OUR CHILDREN. OH yah! So far, we've gotten several laughs at our children's expense. Nobody loves their babies more than Brady and I do (you may think you do, if you're reading this, but this is my blog, remember?). It has been hysterical to embarrass our precious little B's!
Brady has long been known to embarrass his children. He's always doing something to make them cringe, especially at school. He'll say to their good friends that he's known for years, "Hey! I'm Britt's Dad!" or "Hi, I'm Brailey's Dad!" This is mortifying to them, because it is so obvious, of course, and Brady only does it to get a rise out of them and to see the reaction of their friends.
 A couple of weeks ago, we waved our Duck flag out the window of our van as we drove down the freeway at all the Beaver fans we passed - it was Game Day. Some of them laughed and had fun with us, but most were not impressed. Britt was most embarrassed by this behavior. We think it was fun! We now have our flag safely installed on the back of the van.
You may recall reading about this next embarrassing moment in one of Britt's stories. Believe it or not, part of what he wrote was true! A couple of months ago, we were in a Goodwill store. Brady and were ready to go, but the little B's weren't. We said, "Okay, let's go," and walked to the counter. They didn't follow. So I asked the lady at the register if she could page them over the intercom, and she said she would be thrilled to do so. Brady and I were laughing before she even got started! She said into the intercom system, "Brailey and Britt, would you please meet your parents at the front counter? Thank you." Then she started laughing. Brady and I watched them, and they were actually already headed to the register. The second they heard their names over the loudspeaker, Brailey turned the brightest shade of red you can envision, and they both turned around and went down another aisle. By the time they got to the counter, everyone was laughing with us - the cashier and the people near the counter. It was great! Ironically, neither kiddo lets us out of their sight when we go into stores, now. I wonder why?
Most recently, we had an embarrassing incident on Thanksgiving Day. We went to the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, which was super! Because we arrived a bit early, we walked over to Cabela's, where we found a few folks already lined up outside the door for Black Friday. The first guy in line had been there since 8:50 the night before - can you imagine?! Anyway, after the movie, we drove back by Cabela's, where the line was wrapped all the way around the store, probably about 200 people. Brady rolled down his window, waved at everyone, started honking the horn and hollered "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Even I was embarrassed...! As we came around the corner, however, what did we find but a cop standing next to his car. And yes, as we reached the edge of the parking lot, he pulled us over! His lights were flashing bright! Brady was shocked, but thrilled, as well. The cop was extremely nice, and was just checking to make sure Brady wasn't drunk. We shared our story with him, and he laughed and said to our B's, "See why you don't want to be a loser without a job, kids?" He was referring to all the people lined up for Black Friday. When I looked back at the B's faces, they were sitting perfectly still in terrified silence. I said, "They're freaked out because their dad just got pulled over by a cop," and the cop laughed again. Needless to say, if was very embarrassing for our B's!
So we shall see where this new phase of parenting leads us. I'm sure it will hurt our feelings, someday, because they will be embarrassed to be seen with us as teenagers are prone to be. Maybe not, though. Maybe we will get it out of their systems early - who knows? And maybe there was a little grain of truth to Britt's story, and we really are crazy!