If your kid shares your private photos in a school group chat, what would you do?

In life, there’s a kind of embarrassment that’s hard to deal with, and it’s often unintentional.

For example, kids might not understand and share photos they shouldn’t. This can make parents with thin skin anxious and those with thick skin frustrated, even embarrassed.

A Super Embarrassing Story

Last night, I was chatting with friends when one of them shared a super embarrassing story. This story not only embarrassed her but also made her feel terrible.

She said, “I finally realized that you should discipline your kids early, or you won’t be able to later!” Yesterday, I almost died from embarrassment, and I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced something like this…

According to her, there’s a parent group chat in her kid’s kindergarten, where parents share their kids’ learning progress, what they eat for breakfast and dinner, and even what games they play at home.

Last night, while she was cleaning her room, her son took her phone and started playing with it. She didn’t think much of it, thinking he wouldn’t do any harm.

But when she finished cleaning and took her phone back, she was shocked to find that her son had sent a bunch of photos in the group chat—over 70 of them!

Some were selfies of her, some were photos of her and her husband, and some were unknown. There was even a photo of her husband sitting on the floor, shirtless, playing games.

Not only did he send them to the class group chat, but also to the work group chat—over 20 times!

The work group chat was silent, and everyone was too embarrassed to say anything.

It was clear that her son had sent all these photos while she was cleaning her room.

Don’t Let Kids Play with Your Phone

Although it’s not a big deal, this kind of thing is really embarrassing, and anyone would feel frustrated.

After all, there are some selfies that aren’t meant to be seen by others, and they might feel embarrassed when they’re shared. But once they’re sent, there’s no taking them back.

Her friend said, “I’m usually a happy person, but I was really upset. This kid has no shame—he dares to send anything! Luckily, I was dressed decently, or I wouldn’t have dared to send him to kindergarten again, it was too embarrassing!”

Her 3-year-old son is very skilled at playing with phones, but she scolded him and told him it was wrong. He didn’t know what he did wrong and felt wronged.

Everyone who heard the story laughed, and it’s true that this kind of thing is really embarrassing. Many people have experienced it, but it’s hard to explain, and the more you explain, the more embarrassing it gets.

A Lesson Learned

This story teaches us that when we have kids, we can’t just leave our phones lying around, especially at night. At the very least, we should set a password to prevent kids from sending random things.

If we’re unlucky and our kid sends something embarrassing, we can only feel frustrated. There’s no way to deal with this kind of frustration except to comfort ourselves.

A Similar Experience

I can understand this kind of frustration because I’ve had a similar experience. About a month ago, my daughter wanted to play with my phone, and I let her. She sat on the couch and watched videos while I was playing chess with others…

That night, my colleague “Big Beauty” suddenly called me, saying, “You’re so funny, hurry up and delete the videos, and thank me later!” I quickly took my phone back and found that my daughter had sent two videos, which included my conversations with my husband. Luckily, we didn’t say anything too embarrassing…

I was really embarrassed and felt like I was in a nightmare. Luckily, my colleague was paying attention and discovered it quickly. The video was only played seven times before I deleted it, and I’m grateful for that.

I felt really frustrated that night and didn’t sleep well. My husband comforted me, saying, “It’s not a big deal, kids don’t understand, and it’s not like you said anything too embarrassing…”

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Actually, this kind of thing is not rare. Remember a few years ago when a kid sent his dad’s “hot” photo to the class group chat? The dad was both embarrassed and angry, and he had to call everyone to apologize.

It’s understandable that the dad was too embarrassed to attend the parent-teacher conference afterward.

Kids think differently from adults and won’t consider the consequences. They might say something that’s hard to understand, leading to misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

A Divorce Case

However, kids’ “honesty” can be devastating. I remember a divorce case where a kid’s words led to the couple’s separation.

The man and woman were doing well, but the woman had an affair, and the man found out. Although the man was angry, he didn’t divorce her and instead gave her a chance to redeem herself.

The woman cherished this opportunity and promised to change. The marriage recovered, but the man still had a shadow in his heart.

A few months later, during the Spring Festival, the couple took their 3-year-old son back to their hometown. The kid was very talkative and spilled many secrets in front of his grandparents and uncles.

The mom wanted to leave with one of the uncles, and the dad got angry and scolded the kid. The kid said, “Mom wants to leave with Uncle, and Dad is going to fight him…”

The man recalled, “I didn’t expect the kid to remember everything. I felt so ashamed, and I just wanted to hide. I hated her and wanted a divorce, but now I regret it.”

This is a true story, and I might write more about it later. In the end, it was the kid’s “honesty” that destroyed their marriage, like the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Kids Won’t Lie

Kids won’t hide anything and will say whatever comes to mind. As parents, we can’t underestimate their ability to learn and speak.

In life, embarrassing things will happen from time to time. No one can be perfect, and some things are unavoidable. At least we can try to minimize them and avoid feeling frustrated.

Take care of your phone, and don’t let kids play with it. But if something embarrassing happens, just accept it and don’t try to explain—the more you explain, the more embarrassing it gets.