like djokovic if youve been left redfaced by your parents heres the smart kids guide to dealing with it effortlessly if your childhood memories are dotted with your mother accosting your friends about how much they got in the monday math test and you thought turning into an adult would get them off your back you have got it wrong in fact the repercussions of what your parents say to or about your friends in public later in life might be far more severe than not having someone to sit with during lunch time and you are not alone tennis world number one player novak djokovic shares your misery in a recent interview the serbian tennis stars father hinted that roger federer currently ranked number 7 but hailed as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and rafael nadal ranked number 3 were jealous of his sons success srdjan was quoted saying federer is perhaps still the best tennis player in history but as a man hes the opposite and trying to disparage my son in every way srdjan added that novaks relationship with nadal has also gone for a toss embarrassed the 26yearold sport star publicly distanced himself from his fathers views saying unfortunate as it sounds i cannot be held responsible for his deeds and for his words because everybody is entitled to their opinion even my father and i love him so much and respect himgood save djokovic relationship experts say we could all take a leaf from djokovics book when it comes to dealing with the embarrassing situations our parents hurl us into especially in the presence of friends and colleagues the first step say counsellors is to remember that you and your parents are different although related and that your opinions neednt converge a good way to assert this difference says usbased parenting expert dr carl pickhardt is to follow a respectful disassociation say you respect your parents right to their opinion but that those opinions are not your own this way one places distance and differentiation between himself and his parent while not criticising the parents in the processtread carefully parents because they belong to a different generation have followed different social mores all their life and behaviours that arent considered appropriate by you but which might have actually been okay during their time if your parents have made a politically incorrect statement in a public forum avoid reprimanding them in front of others but that doesnt mean that you let the matter drop pick it up in private and let them know politely that such remarks are damaging to your social and professional relations with social media gaining ground and parents growing as fond of facebook as their 22yearolds the dangers are greater parents must learn to know their limits overdoing posts is the most common embarrassment posting on a son or daughters facebook wall once in a while is fine but doing it several times a day