I never ever saw my father naked—except for the last three weeks of his life when he was in the hospital and he had no other choice but to let my sister and I see him naked when we bathed him. While I do remember seeing my mom nude, the instances were few and far between. Both my parents were always so private about their privates. If ever happened to walk in while my mom was getting dressed or undressed, she would turn around so I wouldn't see her. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or a generational thing or both.
While I don't really see anything wrong with that, I didn't follow in their lead. Our children have seen both my husband and I naked pretty much all their very short lives. I mean, it's not like we make it a point for them to see us naked, but we don't cover our bodies if they happen to walk in while we're changing because I don't think there's anything wrong with that either.
But in talking to a friend recently, we wondered until what age it was appropriate for our children to see us naked. As the mom of three boys, my friend told me she recently realized it'd be best if her 7-year-old no longer saw her naked. I'm thinking I'll never have a problem with Vanessa seeing me naked, but seeing her dad naked is another story.
Same thing goes with my son. Although he's still a baby, I image there'll be a time when I will no longer feel comfortable with him seeing me naked, but I'm not sure when that'll be. Crazy the kind of things we have to think about when we're parents, no?
Do you let your children see you naked?
Image via Peter Alfred Hess/flickr
