Recently, my daughter, who is 12, was invited to a special event at the mayor’s office. It was very exciting, and when we arrived, I ran into another Mom whose daughter was being recognized for the same thing. I greeted them in what I thought was a regular and normal way, until my daughter glared at me and said, “Mom…stop.”

“What?”

“Stop.”

“Stop what? What am I doing?”

“You are embarrassing me.”

“What did I do?”

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

I dutifully shushed and sat quiet, silently running over the greeting again in my mind and could not come up with anything I did that was even remotely embarrassing. The problem, I concluded, was with her and not me, and so, I brushed it off.

A week later, I crossed the street with my son, three years younger than my daughter, and exchanged pleasantries with the crossing guard. I got the same familiar glare from him after we walked away.

“What’s the matter?”

“You are so embarrassing!”

“What do you mean? What did I do?”

“You laughed!”

“So what?”

“She didn’t even say anything funny!”

It’s true that I’m socially awkward and often laugh at things that aren’t really funny, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is embarrassing. Then again, he is just a kid, and he does, in fact, tend toward the self-conscious. Also, I have never seen a video of myself socializing with a crossing guard. Maybe he has every right to be mortified.

I began to pay better attention to whenever my kids cringed, rolled their eyes or otherwise glared at me after I said or did something I thought was innocuous and, as many bloggers are known to do, kept a running list. Here are 40 things I should never do again to spare my children any embarrassment:

1. Speak
2. Cough
3. Yawn
4. Wear a shirt with flowers on it
5. Wear a shirt with a graphic design
6. Wear a sleeveless shirt that exposes my armpits
7. Wear a shirt that is a little snug
8. Wear capris
9. Wear chinos
10. Refer to pants as “chinos”
11. Wear shorts
12. Eat a sandwich
13. Eat soup
14. Listen to music
15. Sing
16. Dance
17. Show happiness of any kind
18. Respond “OMG” or “LOL” to a text
19. Ask how their day was
20. Tell them they look good
21. Pay them any sort of a compliment
22. Engage one of their friends in a conversation
23. Appear anywhere in the house when they have friends over
24. Use the word “playdate”
25. Show concern and/or suggest a band-aid after an injury
26. Ride a bike
27. Rollerblade
28. Walk swiftly
29. Try to play a sport of any kind
30. Tell a joke
31. Take a photo of them
32. Ask them to smile when taking their photo
33. Remind them about the importance of proper hygiene
34. Remind them to say “please” and “thank you”
35. Show affection for their father
36. Remind them of the important role fiber plays in digestion
37. Be friendly to the waitress
38. Chat with the cashier
39. Strike up a conversation with someone on a train
40. Say the word “bra”