I would consider myself far from being a prude, but not quite a supporter of exhibitionism, when it comes to nudity.
I don’t mind being nude, but I don’t necessarily need everyone to see me nude, if you know what I mean.
When it comes to nudity around the kids, my attitude has always been casual – they’re my kids, they are born of me, and there is nothing so natural as to be in our very own natural skin in front of each other.
Equally, when the kids are nude, I don’t really have anything to say on the matter. I don’t tell them to cover up or tell Jacob to put his willy away if he flashes it at me (which he does sometimes, the total sweetheart ;o) )
When I was growing up, a lot of emphasis was put on ‘covering yourself up’ by older grandparents or relatives, and I still remember feeling confused and a little bit ashamed when a point was made of covering up my legs if my nightdress shifted up. Way to go in preparing a young woman for a lifetime of body shame, right?
WRONG. I may have had some wobbles as every teenager did, and had to have stern talks with myself over feeling upset about my post-baby body, but mostly I have good body confidence. It didn’t come from my upbringing; it came from my adulting, and my own work on being comfortable in my own skin.
Because of this, I am determined to promote body confidence in my kids. I want them to feel comfortable to run around the house nude if they so wish. I don’t want them to think there’s anything weird with seeing me chuck off my pjs so that I can run into the shower.
But I stopped having baths with Jacob sometime after he turned three. I didn’t have a problem with it per se but Alan was beginning to look at me like it might have been a bit weird.. which then made it a bit weird. Jacob and Eva have baths together now anyway so I wouldn’t have thought that he particularly misses me in any way.
So what is the rule about nudity around our kids exactly – is there a particular age whereby they are deemed ‘too old’ to wash with us or see us naked? Or have we made the issue unnecessarily weird?
For some, it is when the kids turn two or three, for others, it is when it starts to ‘feel’ inappropriate. For me, I may have stopped bathing with them, but they’re probably going to have to put up with seeing me streaking into the bathroom until they eventually move out ;o)
Do you still let your kids see you naked? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
