NOTE: This is meant to be a practical question - if you want to be cute, fine, but in light of all of the hype surrounding the various kidnapping tragedies happening, I’d rather you didn’t go there…
Have you changed your sleeping attire (or lack thereof) since you have had children or they have reached a certain age?
How do you handle the kids running in and jumping on your bed in the mornings?
My kids are young and just starting to recognize nudity - I don’t want to either start wearing pyjamas or keep the door locked, but also recognize that I can see that wrestling with them will be…oh, I don’t know…inappropriate? Meaning, it may be harmless for us, but I want them to understand more about how nudity is perceived in society, and to be wary of it from other adults.
I am thinking that in the future, when they run in, I will stop the action, put on boxers or pyjamas or shorts or something, and them proceed.
How have you handled it?
(sorry if anyone out there sees this as a case of American prudishness…)
My older son has just started to notice nudity. He’s almost 5. He responds by saying “EWWW! I saw your butt!” (followed by peals of laughter, even if that was not the part in question). I have not changed my sleep attire, but I do cover up when he comes in, and if wrestling were on my job sheet, I would throw on at least a teeshirt and undies before the games began. Once it gets colder, I will revert to the clothed sleeping habit again. (Darn that balance of temps so epeepunk doesn’t freeze and I don’t cook…)
Basically, same answer as yours. I’m also just at the point where I throw on a robe as I trot to his room if he needs me during the night.
My kids are 10 & 8 and are beyond the jumping on daddy’s bed age. I sleep in the nude & Mrs. Fireman sleeps in just a shirt. 99.9% of the time we are up before the kids and so there is no problem. When they do come into our bedroom, we are normally covered by the sheets, but they are not shocked by nudity and joke about it. I have never, ever wrestled with either one of them while nude and always wear shorts around the house, never just underwear or boxers; I guess it’s the prude in me. If they need me during the night, I can jump in my shorts in record time, I’ve had plenty of practice!
I sleep in the nude and Lilly, Queen of the Universe and 3 years old, likes nothing better than to come into my bedroom at 6:00 and jump in bed shouting “Daddy, its wake up time!” I usually let her leave the room before getting out of bed and putting on a robe. She has seen me naked and has asked “What’s that?” to which I’ve responded “Daddy’s penis.” No wild attempts at covering up, no avoidance of the issue. As Joe Friday so eloquently put it, “Just the facts, ma’am.” She responds, “Well, I don’t have a penis. I have a vagina.” I don’t make a big deal out of it and she soon forgets she saw Daddy’s penis and wonders where Magenta and Blue are hiding.
We* have somehow managed to raise our son (7 1/2 now) pretty much completely without modesty. He would probably run around the courtyard naked if I let him. Not that he’s an exhibitionist, or is excited by it or anything, he just doesn’t consider it a big deal. He’ll leave the bathroom door open and talk to you while he’s on the pot, and so on.
(*His mom and I aren’t together, but we share custody and cooperate fully on raising him.)
When he’s with me, he sleeps in my bed. We both enjoy it, and it’s a big bed. Plus the other bedroom is very small and full of toys.
Anyway, normally I sleep nude. But when he’s there, I wear shorts just because I’m uncomfortable sleeping nude with him there, for whatever reason. He sleeps nude most of the time and it doesn’t bother me. And I don’t care if he sees me naked when I’m getting dresses or whatever, but I just don’t feel right sleeping nude with him there.
I think the we, “western society” anyway, make too much of a big deal about nudity. I’m very pleased that my boy doesn’t have any weird hangups about it. (Even if I do, just a little.)
When the Perfect Child[sup]TM[/sup] was a toddler, we were very casual about nudity around the house. Once she was a little more aware of her surroundings, hubby started donning shorts if he expected to encounter her. I still bop about nekkid on occasion. She’s likely to be wandering around just in underclothes now that Dad is living out of town.
She was never a “jump-in-the-bed” kinda kid - we were always up and about way before she was. She learned early to knock before coming into our room, and as long as he’s under the sheet, hubby doesn’t sweat it.
Rasslin’ was always fully clothed, not that it was a regular routine.
I’ve slept in the nude since I was a teenager–I just can’t stand getting twisted up in a t-shirt or nightgown during the night. My SO sleeps nude in the summer and we just keep our nightshirts by the bed if the kids come in before we get up (which is a very unusual occurance.)
I think that no matter how conservative you are (I’m not, by the way) if you’re all living in one house together for any length of time you’re going to come across someone in some state of undress at some point. I’ve never made a big deal out of it when it happens because I don’t want my kids (ages 9 and 6) to be all hung up about it.
[slight hijack]
My six year old loves to run around the house naked playing air guitar at bath time. It’s a nightly event that he just seems to revel in. The really weird thing is he completely freaks out if anyone other than me sees his underwear in the laundry hamper when I’m folding the clothes! Kids are just freaky little things.
[/slight hijack]
My stepfather sleeps in the nude but neither of my parents do. I don’t have or ever plan to have any kids but if I did by some miraculous circumstance I would still sleep in the nude.
I still sleep nude. I usually get up before MillCal, so it’s not usually an issue. If she cries in the night, I slip on the shorts I keep by the bed. If she gets up before me (Saturdays,for instance, when she’ll jump into bed with a disgustly cheery “Daddy, it’s Mo-o-o-rning!”, I’ve usually got a blanket or sheet on.
MilliCal has seen me naked. She ran in just as I opened the shower curtain and sat down on the toilet (we were potty training her at the time, so this behavior was encouraged. This has lead to primary-level sex education. (“Daddy, what’s that?”)
