Laughing at Yourself

Photo byBĀBIonUnsplash

I know we all have those moments when something embarrassing happens and we wish we could disappear. We could diffuse those moments so easily though if we laughed at them. Seeing the humor and sharing it with others not only makes us feel better, but also makes our audience feel more comfortable.

What are some of your embarrassing moments? I have had plenty. Let me share a few in the hopes that they will make you chuckle.

As a teacher, the potential for making a fool of myself was a daily possibility. When I had toddlers, my mornings were crazy. Once I was in class when a female teacher came in and whispered, “The back zipper on your skirt is down.” When I was 8 months pregnant, I couldn’t see my feet, and I was getting dressed in the dark so I wouldn’t wake up my husband, so I came to school twice with two different shoes. Several times I wore two different earrings, and two times my shoes fell apart as I was walking around the class.

Once, right before the bell rang, I was walking across the class in platform shoes when my foot went into a craft box, and I fell hard. I jumped back up with my hands in the air and said I was okay, but it was dead quiet in the room. The next day, the students told me they thought I had hurt myself, and they didn’t know what to do.

There was another moment when I was teaching when I noticed a bat hanging in the far corner. I threw down my notebook and ran out the door. The students didn’t know what had happened, but they knew it must be bad, so several screamed and there was utter chaos as they ran for the door. That was not my finer moment.

As a parent, embarrassing moments are inevitable. My worst was in a restaurant with my youngest at three months. There was an epic diaper blowout, and I had no idea how I was going to make it to the car without causing the scene that would be both visual and olfactory, so I scooped her up and went to the car as quickly as possible.

I have a tendency to trip over nothing when I am walking, and I never do it unless there are 20 people behind me. The worst moment was in Paris. I had gone to the tourist office and found maps to give to my students for our next trip. Suddenly, I tripped and landed hard on my knee, ripping my pants. The maps went flying. I was sure I had tripped over something big, but when I turned around, all I saw was air.

My list can continue, and as I am writing it I am laughing so hard at the memories that my family is asking questions. Make a list of your moments and have a good laugh. We need to realize that everyone has these situations.