Look, I don’t want to put anyone off their dinner, but…
I don’t always have clothes on in front of my kids.
I never considered that I lived in one of those so-called ‘naked’ houses, but there are plenty of times I find myself unclothed under the gaze of tiny eyes.
Like when I get out of bed to one of them in the middle of the night and I can’t find my robe.
Like when they want to talk to me when I’m in the shower.
Like when they just walk in when I’m getting dressed.
Like when they just walk in when I’m on the toilet.
Yes, my children have about the same respect for privacy and boundaries as every 2 and 4-year-old that you’ve ever met.
But today, I got to thinking, when is it no longer appropriate for my kids to see me naked?
I got to thinking, because I read this story by a Angela Epstein in the Mail Online, who has vowed to never let her daughter see her naked ever again. And not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
Mostly because when her 10-year-old daughter walked in on her in the bathroom recently, she brought all the criticism…
‘Sorry Mummy, but you look so, err, floppy’
Floppy? Floppy? If ever there was a word a naked woman wants to have expunged from the English language, then floppy has to be it. That is unless we’re talking sagging sofas or old straw hats.
Certainly, it should be illegal to use as part of a little girl’s forensic analysis of her mother’s body — especially when her mother’s chest is on the larger side.
But looking down at the pendulous breasts just peeking out from the foamy bubbles, I silently conceded that Sophie had a point. It’s just that she is the only person brave — and cheeky — enough to vocalise the harsh truth about my mid-life body.
At that very moment I decided there was only one thing for it; I would never let my daughter see my naked body again.
Angela goes on to say that when her daughter was little, she never thought twice about being nude in her presence, but that by 10-years-old, her little girl has learned what a woman’s body is meant to look like, and ‘floppy’ isn’t it.
Ouch.
Right now, I don’t think my kids even really see me when they’re marching in and demanding things mid-shower, but surely that’s going to change one day.
And even though my daughter needs to know what ‘real’ women look like, I don’t know if I’m ready for that level of critique.
So, what do you think? Is there a point at which it’s no longer comfortable to be naked around your kids? And when is that point?
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