Parents will always embarrass their teenage children!

I was amused by the expression on Emma Thompson’s daughter’s face as her mum took to the stage at the Golden Globes last week.

Gaia, 14, cringed as Emma with a martini in one hand and her red-soled Louboutin heels in the other entertained the audience in her bare feet.

Earlier in the evening her pretty daughter, wearing a glamorous party frock, said: “It’s my first everything. The first time I’ve dressed up like this. My first Hollywood party.”

But trust Mum to do what every teenager dreads embarrass them!

But it’s inevitable when you’re a parent no matter how hard you try, there will be times when your children just want the earth to open and swallow you up.

My life of shame as a parent began at an egg and spoon race at my son’s primary school. Gamely, I entered. “Don’t do it,” six-year-old Rob said firmly. But there was no stopping me, despite having absolutely no athletic ability.

So, of course, I came last and tripped before the finishing line, ending up on my bottom in a muddy field while my poor son’s mates laughed and he looked mortified.

Then there are the times when you say the wrong thing in front of their friends if looks could kill, you’d die on the spot. I’ve blurted out baby nicknames and revealed the identity of a boy my 14-year-old daughter had a crush on when her girly pals were round after school. I’ve danced badly to ’60s songs at her 18th birthday party.

None of which has been forgiven.

Their father has stood on the touchline at Boys’ Brigade football matches and shouted instructions at them as if he was Alex Ferguson himself. He’s worn kipper ties. He’s also made embarrassing remarks in front of his son’s girlfriends and cringe-making speeches at their weddings.

My friend entered the parental hall of shame by wearing hot pants after her 40th birthday, to her sons’ dismay.

Oh the shame of parents who wear the wrong clothes, say sentimental things, think they’re still cool or that their dodgy jokes are really funny.

I often wished I could hide my mother away in a cupboard when my friends visited. She asked too many questions. Maybe for parents, embarrassing your kids is inevitable payback time.

So I’m with Emma Thompson she’s had a great career, looks fantastic, has loads of charm and wit, and took her 14-year-old with her to a Hollywood bash.

What a woman. Gaia, get over it your turn will come.