NY Times - Naked With Children

[Ramblinman]

I don't see the point in trying to label her as naturist or not-naturist, or assess her level of commitment to naturism.

If naturist identity was not a useful concept, people would not have adopted it by the thousands. That's not to say that you are forced to choose. But whatever you care to call it, this woman's kids are by her own admission learning textile attitudes, perhaps in part from their own mom and dad.

...I think the social aspect may help "inoculate" family naturism against any suspicion of impropriety; that is, if there's a whole legitimate, respectable community supporting a family and saying, "Yes, this is OK," it's a lot harder for others to say it's not OK. Kind of reflects the Biblical theme that bad things are those done in darkness, and hidden; good things are those done in the light, out in the open.

My own experience is being the child of a very body-accepting family, but losing my way until my early 20's.
I think my upbringing was good enough (when it comes to nudity) that I eventually came back to it and took it a step further. But yes, it is possible to spare our kids a "lost decade" of prudishness.

[pipermac]

I see lots of mixed signals in that article. She started early by starting to wear pajamas to bed when the toddler was able to climb in bed with her. The toddler didn't change, she changed. She also made inconsistent rules. It was fine to be naked in the rest of the house, but no bare bums on the sofa or while eating. Did I miss something there? What is "sacred" about the sofa or dinner table? That made only part of the house "clothing optional". What about just putting a big towel on the whole sofa, so everyone can go bare if they wish. How about towels on the dining room chairs, so they can enjoy dinner au naturale if the wish? Sure, if company was coming over for dinner, that might be a different situation, but if it was just the family...

Probably the most disturbing of all though is her abdication of parental authority. Sure we need to be understanding of our kids thoughts and wishes, but when we start allowing THEM to make the rules, the household is turned upside-down. When I was young, my parents made the rules, and if I broke them, I got punished. They decided how and when to exact the punishment, not me. If it was their belt to my bare, that was what happened, and I had no say in the matter. They decided how long and how hard, not I. They were in charge. There were two slightly different sets of rules, depending on who was at home, dad or mom, but for the most part, they were consistent. Can you imagine the chaos if I had been making the rules, at my whim?

I grew up in a strictly-textile home, and an only-child, so I never really remember seeing either of them naked, although they saw me naked plenty of times. Even that changed when I turned about 13. I didn't change...they changed. The belt also got replaced with grounding, and one time it was for nine weeks, for getting a "C" in English. No more getting the punishment done and over with.

As for the kids with two mommies... I used to know a lesbian "couple" that had two kids. There were no "fathers", just sperm-donors. We are going to see more and more kids with two dads or two moms as homosexuals get more "rights". As for me, I prefer being married to a real woman.

Just my two-cents-worth, for whatever it's worth.

Steve