Hello, my name is Jill and I’m cringey. I don’t think my friends think I’m cringey and I hope my husband doesn’t think I’m cringey but my youngest son certainly does, and he likes to tell me so on a daily basis. In fact, it’s sometimes on an hourly basis, but who’s keeping track?
I recently googled ‘cringey’ and here is what I found – ‘causing feelings of acute embarrassment or awkwardness.’ It is cringey that I looked it up? Probably! So, what about me is cringey, aside from googling it, you may ask? Other than the fact that I breathe, let’s start at the beginning of the day and we’ll go from there.
This is why my son says I’m cringey
I’m cringey when I go into my youngest son’s room in the morning, after hearing his alarm go off for 15 minutes, to inquire if he’s planning to get out of bed.
I’m cringey when I ask him to make his bed and tidy his room. Chores are good for kids, right?
I’m cringey when I want to talk to him in the car on the way to school to find out what he’s doing that day and if he might need a ride home from school. There are many rides into school where I’m not allowed to speak, ask questions or listen to music. Would I have said that to my parents? Oh wait, I walked to school. Every day. No matter the weather.
Here are a few others from the cringey hall of fame – offering a coat on a -20-degree day, asking him where he is going, reminding him of his curfew or suggesting he go to bed early because he seemed so tired that morning – teens just love suggestions – and of course, breathing, but I think I already mentioned that.
If the term existed I would have thought my parents were cringey
Although the term ‘cringey’ didn’t exist when I was a teenager, I know if it had existed, I would have absolutely thought that both of my parents, especially my mum, were incredibly cringey; possibly the most cringey of all parents, ever. The cringiest!
Teenagers are meant to think their parents are embarrassing, epically uncool, stupid, awkward, foolish, know nothing, have no fashion sense, and are completely clueless which equals cringey. I get it. Thankfully, in my 20s, I began to realize that my mum and dad actually did know a few things and maybe weren’t all that bad.
Once I became a parent, I had a revelation – my mum, the most embarrassing parent on planet earth might possibly have been that way on purpose because it can be incredibly enjoyable to knowingly embarrass one’s children!
I embrace the role of cringey parent
Following in my mother’s footsteps, I embrace the role of cringey parent and make sure to ask things that I know my son will think are cringey just because I think it’s funny. Examples of this are, “Oh honey, how was the semiformal?” or “Did you meet any nice young ladies?” or ‘Was anyone drinking?’ or ‘Make sure you have fresh breath in case you kiss anyone.’
I’m extra cringey now when he leaves the house to go out with his friends when I suggest that he ‘make good choices.’ That’s definitely a fan favorite.
I really like his friends and enjoy talking to them. He’s mortified by this so as you may have guessed, I double down on the chit chat, questions and jokes every time I drive him and his pals around. They are good sports about it, always polite and humor me with actual responses while my son rolls his eyes and looks genuinely appalled.
If eye rolling were an Olympic sport, he’d have multiple gold medals, a world record, and a Nike endorsement. I have fully embraced my role as a cringey parent and am committed to playing this part as best I can.
How cringey that I even wrote about this. Oh, the horror!
More Great Reading:
This Stage, the Teen Years, is Certainly the Best Stage
How I Reacted to My Son’s (Momentarily Bad) Behavior by Guiding, Not Judging
