The Women's Sports Foundation's 2022 Annual Salute To Women In Sports Gala
Dear Moms, Dads, and Caregivers everywhere,
We regret to inform you that, regardless of how many times you rehearse the mantra “I’m not a typical mom, I’m a hip mom” in front of the mirror, your children will inevitably find ways to be embarrassed by you. They will cringe, let out exasperated sighs, feign ignorance of your existence, and exhibit dramatic mortification over seemingly trivial matters. While Amy Poehler made the art of being cool seem effortless in Mean Girls, the reality is that not all parents can pull off a Juicy sweatsuit with her level of finesse.
And when you can’t do that, what can you do?
Well, you could try to be cool. And try to save yourself from having your kids look away in horror. But when we saw that Serena Williams’ daughter Olympia Ohanian was embarrassed by her dad, we just couldn’t find it in our hearts to stand up for him. Alexis Ohanian definitely had good intentions when he agreed to help out at his 5-year-old’s dance recital, but the execution…
It was painful.
The co-founder of Reddit shared a mirror selfie on Instagram that shows him cheesing for the camera while Olympia angrily stomps away, arms crossed, and a pout clearly on her face. And why is that? Because her dad is wearing Crocs and socks. Crocs. And. Socks.
Nooooo! And while Crocs are definitely making a comeback, it’s just different when it’s your dad wearing them. In public! And with socks!
We’re feeling the secondhand cringe.
“They asked for moms & dads to volunteer to be in Jr’s ballet recital and she got mad at me for showing up to the first rehearsal dressed like this because ‘papa that’s not serious.’ The Crocs came off for the rehearsal don’t worry — though we had dads rolling up in jeans,” the dad of two captioned his post.
Jeans might not be practical for pirouettes, but they’re less emotionally painful than your dad rolling up in Crocs, shorts, and a muscle tank. And commenters definitely agreed.
“She said: Ballet. 🩰 Not beach, Papa. 🌊”
“Already embarrassing her!!! Bravo!!! She’s got a long way to go!!! 😂😂😂”
“I’m not sure if Papa understood the assignment 😂⚘️”
“It’s @olympiaohanians world and and we are just lucky to live in it 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🫶🏾,” Olympian Lauren Gibbs said.
“I’m with her,” MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle commented.
And same! It’s going to be hard to bounce back from this, Ohanian. Not only did it phyisically hurt to see this, but it was also such an emotional bummer after he had a major win last week. He shared a video saying that he asks his daughter for a word or two before he goes on TV and that he’ll try to work those into the interview to “let her know I’m thinking about her.”
He then shared a clip from a CNBC appearance where he weaved in “taco ice cream” just like his little girl asked him to. As many said, it was “top-tier dad work,” and now we can’t wait for his next interview so he can (hopefully!) redeem himself with his oldest daughter.
