Do you remember those endless hours on the backseat of mum and dad’s car, while trying to reach the shores of Cornwall on your annual holidays with family at the beach? You would be lucky enough if you could manage to fall asleep and avoid the haunting sound of those tacky tunes from days gone by.
But hey, those car drives and 1970s songs are no longer a big deal for the kids of the 21st century. In times when street and social cred mean everything, even kids’ worries inevitably got more mundane.
According to research by record label for kids, Zeamu Music, the main worry ahead of the dreaded trip with the parents is, in fact, embarrassment. Embarrassing behaviour from parents represents the main issue for 64 per cent of kids – that is, almost two out of three. And knowing that your kids are very likely to be secretive about that sense of unease could even turn you into a more self-conscious parent.
How do you avoid embarrassing your kids?
To avoid that sort of thing altogether, just be candid about your behaviour. Discuss it with them when you got a chance, and get them to tell you what you can do to make them feel more comfortable around you. But to keep your pride intact, it will also be essential to take all this with a pinch of salt: books like this are there to still help you have a laugh while you try to figure out what makes a well-respected holidaying parent.
Do some research
“Not-So-Stupid Parents” is an interesting book about living in conflict with your teen children. Here’s an excerpt from the back cover: “Teenagers have two different categories when it comes to parents: 1. Stupid 2. Not-so-stupid. At some point in their lives all teens are in conflict with their parents, and how you handle that conflict will make you a stupid parent or a not-so-stupid one.
Resist the dance floor
For a start, anyway, it would make things much easier if you gave up your dancing altogether. Or at least in front of your kids: dad’s dance floor moves are in fact what makes them the most embarrassed.
Don’t say the s-word
On a more positive note, the choice of music is not as bad as it used to be: only 10% of kids are actually worried about the songs they’ll hear in the car. But are all these problems really so important in a kid’s mind? Little seems to matter really as long as school is only a distant memory: not spending their time over books is what makes summer holidays great for 81% of them. Never ever mention the s-word, and chances are that holidays with your children will be just fine.
Do you have any horror stories to tell us? Dad doing the boogie on the dance floor? What about embarrassing teenagers… or perhaps that’s another topic for another day 🙂
Image credits: blogcdn.com, bridalguide.com, teenagedays.com
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