I walk around the house naked and let my 2-year-old daughter follow me into the bathroom when I pee. I don't want her raised like me, to think that being seen as you were born is something shameful.
It's my personal statement against puritanism, societally imposed self-hatred, and doing laundry. Studies have shown that children reared by nudists — and they definitely are reared — grow up better adjusted.
OK, so maybe I don't do much laundry.
I guess I'm not a card-carrying nudist, though, because I think that doing this forever is probably a little pervy. (By the way, where do nudists carry that card?) I'll probably stop by the time Skylar's in kindergarten and many of her core self-concepts are formed. Or by the time we finally splurge for a new living-room couch.
As with most ideals I put into practice, of course, my other half hates this. She says that watching someone pee while standing up will confuse our daughter and that penis envy will result. (My usual response: "What, from this?")
But, the truth is, our daughter pointed exactly once, asking what that was. I told her and we moved on, no big deal. Since then, she stares at it with the same infrequency and nonchalance as she does my right thumb.
At the time, though, she did ask why she didn't have one. And I explained that one day she will get to own and control one — which is where the power really is.
So how acceptable, or disturbed, do you think this is?
