“I walk around my house in the buff. Is it scarring my kids?” By Emily Mendell for Babble.com.
I walk around my house in the buff. Is it scarring my kids?
“Sure – just give me two secs.”
He huffs back towards the playroom, glancing over his shoulder at me to make sure I am on my way to save him from his younger brother. A typical exchange between mother and son, with one exception: I am completely without clothes.
He caught me coming out of the shower at the precise moment when the wet towel went up on the hook and I was figuring out what to wear that day. The bedroom door was open and I was routing through my underwear drawer when confronted with his urgent problem. Yet neither one of us skipped a beat. I may as well have been standing there in a full-length parka, boots and a hat. It was a non-event for both of us.
Later, I ask my husband, “Do you think it’s creepy that I still let the boys see me without clothes on?”
“It’s not creepy. It’s not like you prance around or anything.”
“So, as long as there is no prancing, it’s okay?”
“I think so.”
“What about when they’re teenagers?”
“You might want to rethink things then.”
But I didn’t want to rethink things. For me, there are certain inalienable rights associated with the family: not worrying about what I’ve got on is one of them.
My feelings are not rooted politically. I am not taking any sort of stand on freedom of expression. And I’m certainly not making bold statements about “not being ashamed of my body.” At thirty-nine years old, I clearly sport some body parts that are worthy of a little shame. But these are the humans to whom I am the closest of anybody in the entire world. If, so to speak, they are the fruit of my loins – why should I have to rush to cover said loins?
When your kids are toddlers, it’s hardly an issue. For most moms, ttrips to the bathroom and showers are rarely unaccompanied, and doors are never locked for safety reasons. But when your kids are around age four or five, things change. It’s at that point that parents choose how they want things to be.
Read More
About the Author
Emily Mendell writes and works from home in the Philadelphia suburbs where she lives with her husband and two sons. She is a regular contributor to Babble.com, iParenting.com and her essays have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Tribute to Moms (2008). She co-authors the daily blog: mothersofbrothers.com.
« Go back to Kid
7 thoughts on ““I walk around my house in the buff. Is it scarring my kids?” By Emily Mendell for Babble.com.”
Leave a Reply
Share What You're Reading
And on the beach here ineurope everyone was naked and there was no shame about body parts. whats the big deal in your part of the world
should that about 9-10years in the post
Hmmm…I agree with the last 30 odd some comments. I just feel so out of place leaving more than one word and a comma that I hardly know what to say in response to the article. I do wonder why it’s under “Bad Mom” when really, the author doesn’t see herself as such, so maybe that’s what they’re trying to tell us? That she’s not that bad? Hmmmm…back to plotting Memorial day lunch.
HHIS I should have thoguht of that!
Have you been ‘prancing’ around nude for long?
I can’t understand why you are feeling guilty about it now.
I am the father of two married daughters. My wife got into the tub with them when they were toddlers I also helped to bathe them, dry their bodies and hair while they were still naked, then they were allowed to cuddle in a blanket to watch TV for a few minutes. I walked nude from the bedroom to the shower. I also changed the girls diapers when they were babies. The only time we closed our bedroom door was when my wife and I had our time out, happened only occasionally when the girls were home or not sleeping. The girls often walked in on us when we were dressing. We didn’t rush to cover up if they came in to ask questions. They asked about my penis and we told them that I used it to pee. The eldest referred to it as a pickle and we let it go at that. We took care of nephew when his mother was in the hospital to have another baby he got to bathe with his girl cousins and they found out about boys and he about girls. there was no problems from that. So as far as I am concerned don’t feel bad, on the contrary, at some point your child has to learn about the other sex, you can control the rate at which he will learn, so be happy about it.
Did you ever hear of wearing a robe? They’re relatively cheap and you can hang one on a hook in your bathroom. You can quickly grab it to wear around the house when you absolutely have nothing to wear and have to run to the basement to get your clothes out of the laundry.
It’s great that it sounds like your kids seem well adjusted, but I personally don’t think it’s a good idea to keep walking around naked in front of them just because you feel it’s your house and your right to do so. Especially with 10 year old boys. I don’t have any scientific studies to back that up, but as a father of two small children (male and female) my gut is telling me it became inappropriate to walk around nude in front of my children when they could start asking coherent questions about their/our private parts.
Being comfortable with your body if front of your husband or adults is one thing. Walking around nude in front of your children of the opposite sex, and a total disinterest in avoiding those types of situations under the guise of teaching them a lesson = creepy.