posted January 14, 2007 07:34 AM         

Do you cover up in front of the kids or not bother?

Were your own parents phased by it, very relaxed or very repressed?

I dont think I ever saw my mother's breasts or my dads penis in all the 20 years I lived at home I think they would rather have died than be seen naked!!!

At what age do you think (if at all) parents should make a conscious effort to cover up at all times in front of their sons and daughters.

Thanks...

Interested to hear?

posted January 14, 2007 07:36 AM         

I was told that years ago some wives and husbands didnt even see each other naked.....

Isnt THAT unreal.....

Good ol repression hey?

posted January 14, 2007 08:14 AM         

Don't run around the streets of Ireland naked, coz we don't want to see you wind up in JAIL!!!!

I'm for it and against it.

I guess it all depends upon how it's "done". My best friend of 35 yrs has 2 daughters and, from what I can see, it has simply made them more acceptable and unashamed of their own bodies. But then we are all the same sex. None of us has anything the other doesn't, just different shapes, sizes, and colors.

I don't think mom's should run around naked in front of their sons, nor should daddy be naked in front of his daughters. My feelings on this stem from all the cases of molestation and rape we hear about (and don't!), so I'm not sure when/where it would be okay for opposite sex adults/children to run around naked together.

Wouldn't want to encourage any nasty behavior or give the adult yet another excuse for his/her molesting a child. "He/she was always running around naked, teasing me. What did they think was going to happen?!".

One friend of mine has grown up seeing her dad run around naked all her life and nothing bad has happened. To her it's a natural thing and something she doesn't even think twice about. So it can be a good thing to learn early on not to be ashamed of our bodies.

Just my experience with it. Sorry for being a Rambling Rose

posted January 14, 2007 09:09 AM         

I veer more to the opinion of not making a big deal of it...

Our son sees me in the shower...like I wouldnt panic and cover up or anything...

But then again I wouldnt flaunt my body in front of him....

I suppose it is "balance'

I remember once when I was an early teen I walked upstairs and my dad had just come out of the bathroom and didnt realise I was there. His reaction to me, cos he was naked was one of horror!!!!! He seemed to make such a big deal of it and I could have grown up believing nudity was wrong...but luckily I didnt.

Having said that I might take yer advice and not run around the streets....can you imagine how MORTIFIED our son would be....

posted January 14, 2007 09:31 AM         

Sue, it might not put him off of women. It might actually have an opposite effect by making him want to see women who are not his mom naked!

As for you running naked in the streets, that could go either way for your son. It'll either embarrass the heck out of him, or he'll become some sort of "star" amongst his friends. Either way, it'll make him, umm.....popular!

posted January 14, 2007 09:34 AM         

Think i will pass on the running thro the streets...too risky hey?

posted January 14, 2007 02:27 PM         

Granny in the nude.....

posted January 14, 2007 05:12 PM         

I will be nursing soon, so they'll both see my top half inadvertently a lot no doubt.
My son was six when I nursed his sister a lot, and I nursed him too when he was young, so it was a natural thing to see. Not a big deal at all.

It's the way you react to things which scar or make the children concerned.
I remember being a small child and having to go to the bathroom, so I opened the door, and my dad was in there, peeing presumably, and he FLIPPED out on me. I was ashamed, like I'd done something wrong, when all I wanted to do was pee.
It was not seeing anything which shamed me, in fact, I did not see anything anyway... nor was it my intention.... it was his extreme reaction that lead me to believe I did something wrong.

If one of us is caught nekkid, it's not a big deal. I'll just say.. "Hey.. bathroom in use."
My daughter's a curious one and likes to be nekkid herself. We set her straight if she crosses a boundary, explain private behaviour.. and she's a smart cookie.
I don't think you can mess up kids by seeing nekkid bodies.. but you can mess them up with your reactions and own opinions.

*this is turning into a rant..

I remember the big controversy when Ernie and Bert were said to be Gay, and religious groups jumped all over it... and the Tinky Winky thing.
When you sexualize children's characters, that says something about YOUR character, not children's.
That's my opinion.
Kids don't care that Ernie and Bert are bachelor best friends that share an apartment. They just think it's cool to have a best friend who annoys you and cares about you.

posted January 15, 2007 06:57 PM         

At least it prepared me somewhat to see Mom completely naked when she rushed out to pick up the phone not long after that.

Ah, the traumas of youth...:P :-D

posted January 15, 2007 11:46 PM         

Sue, at the thought of you streaking about town!! This is for you:

posted January 16, 2007 12:15 AM         

Well.. I'm just opinionated is all.

And simply living in this world can screw everyone up.. I like for them to guide me on how to parent them.. I'm as quirky as the rest.. but I certainly don't make mountains out of molehills. Or nipples.lol

posted January 18, 2007 04:15 PM         

My son (6) walks in on me from time to time in various states of un and dress. He's aware enough by now of "private parts," so a simple "excuse me, I'm dressing" is enough to get the point across. However, he usually ignores the warning and proceeds to tell me whatever it is he came to tell me, oblivious to the fact that I'm nekkid.

I'm nursing right now, so I can relate to Pix's story. My top half is a bit of a permanent fixture around here these days. I was curious as to how my son would handle it... I've read about behaviors in older children that seem strange out of context, but normal under those circumstances. Mostly he would sit and watch her eat, and occasionaly press a finger to my breast near her cheek... it seemed to me that he was working out the differences between breasts as private parts and nuturing parts. Okay for the baby and not for him? I didn't make any deal about it, and he's figured it out on his own, I guess.

Out of necessity I had to shower with him until he learned to clean himself well enough. (We don't have a bathtub, just a small shower stall.)

My thoughts are that everyone has a "naked."