It’s a well-known fact that children can be embarrassing and I certainly experienced several cringe worthy incidents.
We were at a breakfast during a conference my then husband was attending. He ran into one of his colleagues and his wife as we were leaving and politely introduced myself and the kids. Thaddeus, about five at the time, stared at the wife and said in his sweetest voice,
“Hello, you look…strange.”
We bustled him out as swiftly as we could. She did look a bit strange but even so…
I couldn’t make as hasty an exit though, when I was at the checkout at the shop one day and I noticed Padraic (about three years old) gawking at a very petite man standing in front of us.
“That man’s short!” he rasped loudly for all and sundry to hear.
The poor guy turned around and said graciously,
“That’s right little fella, I am short!”
I smiled apologetically and the people around us tittered politely.
Padraic, sensing that he’d elicited a reaction of some sort, shouted a bit louder,
“That man’s SHORT!”
This time the man smiled and nodded at Padraic while I made shushing noises and attempted to distract him, again smiling apologetically at the poor bastard.
Perceiving excitement in the air Padraic went for it again, even more stridently,
“THAT MAN’S SHORT!” he bellowed.
By this time all the other customers were looking at their feet, the shop assistant was glaring at me and the Danny De Vito lookalike was not smiling at all.
In fact, he was paying for his items as quickly as he could and almost running out of the store with Padraic raucously calling after him,
“THAT MAN’S SHORT! THAT MAN’S SHORT! THAT MAN”S SHORT!”
