“My mother forced us to wear a giant HOME-MADE s’more costume to our family’s halloween party. No one was happy about it. Except her. I got stuck being the marshmallow made of an appetizing hula-hoop and sheet.”

(submitted by Kari)

Does your pet have an awkward name? Send it to us here along with a photo and have a chance to be a part of the new Awkward Family Pet Photos book!

(submitted by Jessica)

“This is a family picture my aunt found. The ginger with the jorts flexing is my dad. The hot chick who looks like she’s from Charlie’s Angels is my mom. The rest of my family looks confused/disgusted. I share his enthusiasm for jorts.”

(submitted by Ashley)

And you thought cell phones were distracting.

(submitted by Brandy)

“This family picture was taken around 1989, not 1969 as the hairstyles and tacky wallpaper might lead you to believe. Though this is my immediate family (I’m the girl with her eyes closed), fortunately this is not our house. Between my mom’s perm, my dad’s dejected slouch, my sister’s broken wrist and mid-chew expression, and the world’s most hideous interior design, this picture is bursting with awkwardness!”

(submitted by Linda)

It was only years later that Laura and her sister would discover that the bull wasn’t real.

(submitted by Laura)

Sometimes, we know if he’s been naughty too.

(submitted by Rhett)

There’s not a straight-shooter in the family.

(submitted by Kelly)

Rest up… the holidays are coming.

(submitted by Melanie)

“The year was 1976. My mom had just come home with that fabulous perm, and, apparently, I asked to have the same done to my hair.  I was three or four at the time, so I’ll have to take her word on that.  I do, however remember the traumatic experience of having that fro cut off several days after this picture was taken, because I played in a sandbox too emphatically and my mother couldn’t comb through the tangled, sandy mess!  This picture will always make me smile (while shaking my head).  It shows just how tiny our immediate family was – just me and my mom, with dad behind the camera at his studio. It’s goofy, sure, but back then, it was just ‘us’.”

(submitted by Julie)