The Real Housewives of Orange County's Tamra Judge is mom to daughters Sophia, 14, and Sidney, 20, plus sons Spencer, 19, and Ryan, 33

Tamra Judge Recalls the Time She Threatened to Leave Son in Car Seat Outside and 'Drive Away'

Tamra Judge has been a mom for 33 years, but her most “embarrassing” parenting moment came long before her three younger children were born.

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“This is really bad … I was a teen mom and Ryan was probably 3 years old, and he was screaming in the car. He would not be quiet. He was in his car seat,” Judge recalls. “And I stopped the car and I said, ‘If you don’t be quiet, I’m gonna take your car seat out and put it on the curb and I’m gonna drive away.’ ”

“And to this day, he still reminds me,” she continues. “He might’ve been a little older, ’cause he sure remembers! He’s like, ‘Mom, that was horrible, I can’t believe you said that!’ I go, ‘That is horrible.’ ”

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Image zoom Tamra Judge with her kids (from L to R) Spencer, Sophia and Ryan Tamra Judge/ Instagram

Image zoom Tamra Judge

Three decades later, Judge has learned that her best quality as a mom is that she feels like her children are able to communicate with her effectively and feel comfortable doing so.

“They’re not afraid to talk to me, they’re very open with me,” says the Bravo personality. “Talking about everything. And it’s good to know what’s going on in their [lives].”

“If it’s my 19-year-old son, we talk about girl problems. If it’s Sophia, she’s 14, now she wants to talk about makeup and nails and what happened at school,” Judge says. “They’re very open with me — maybe a little too open.”

Image zoom Tamra Judge Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU/Getty

“I was the total opposite with my parents. We didn’t talk about anything,” she continues. “So I made sure with my children that they felt comfortable. I’m not gonna judge them. They’re not gonna get in trouble for telling me something that happened.”

Judge will never forget when Ryan, Sidney and Spencer graduated from high school — events the reality star remembers as her proudest parenting moments.