If you have or have had a child in middle school, you know how easily they are embarrassed by everything you do. From clothes, to music, to even having the audacity to enter a room where they are hanging out with their friends— parents can’t do much right during these years.
A recent TikTok has gone viral after a seventh grade teacher in Palm Springs known as @7thgradechronicles asked students: “What is something your parents or guardians do that makes you cringe?” He flashed up each answer his students gave on Post-it notes to the tune of “Gettin’ Jiggy,” ala Will Smith, and they sound hilariously all too familiar.
@7thgradechronicles What parents do that make middle schoolers cringe. #middleschool #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teacher #teachertok #7thgrade
♬ Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It – Will Smith
“My mom uses Facebook,” one student wrote, swiftly followed by, “Takes mirror selfies,” and “Listens to Katy Perry,” which apparently is a big no-no when you’re trying to impress a young teen. Another admitted their dad still wears speedos. OK, that’s fair.
“My mom also hangs up positivity signs,” one embarrassed middle schooler wrote, adding, “Live, Laugh, Love.” Others clearly didn’t like their parents sweet sweet dance moves like “dabbing” or “TikTok dances” in general.
Apparently, we also can’t watch NCIS (look away, Mark Harmon), say “that’s tight,” or call ourselves “gangster,” to which their child wrote, “Girl no.” One student admitted their mom still makes them order off the kids’ menu “even though they are 13 years old,” which sounds like a solid money saving idea to us.
The good news is that at some point our kids will find us cool enough to actually hang out with again, just as we did with our parents. It may not feel like it while we try to get them through these years (can someone please invent a support group for parents of teens?) but eventually our embarrassing traits will become ones they can stomach, dare we say even appreciate.
Of course, parents were quick to weigh in on the kid’s answers in the comments sections, saying, “Do they understand that their discomfort is the goal?” and “How dare they come after our procedural shows,” which is just the sort of bad dad joke that got us here in the first place.
