naked

I'm surrounded by boys.

I've always been fairly "open" with Sam; changing my clothes, going potty, taking showers, and whatever else I used to do privately.  when he was younger, he would just barge in like he owns the place.  now he just comes in because it's become the norm.  whatever.
in my mind, it's a form of bonding.  we do "private" things together, creating a level of intimacy.  nothing sexual of course, but a level of comfort.  does that make sense?  hopefully it does without me sounding ... gross.

so Sam is now 4 1/2 years old.  whenever I'm in the shower, and he feels like taking a shower, he'll just come in and join me.  
the other day, he was staring.  I sort of called him on it, he stopped, but then did it again.  it kinda weirded me out, so I ended my shower early.

when he was younger, he's done all the poking, squeezing, giggling about body parts ... on me, on Papa, on himself ... actually he still giggles about himself sometimes.  now that's he's older, we've taught him that it's not appropriate to touch anyone else ... or for anyone to touch him like that.  luckily he "gets it" and it's not a battle we have to fight with him at every shower.

I suppose at this age comes new levels of curiosity.  isn't 5 too early to be staring?  
it's not all the time, but now I'm looking for it.  actually, I've arranged it so he showers more with papa and takes bathes with little brother.  he's always been a water-baby, so whenever water gets turned on, he's there regardless of who else is in there.

I'm posting this to get advice, if you have any.  I'm I paranoid?  if you have boys, where do you draw the line?  or if you have girls, when do they stop bathing with daddy?

with this kind of stuff, I don't like to get doctor's advice.  to me, there are certain things that should be by-the-book.  to me, these kinds of cultural/social things shouldn't be measured by-the-book.  advice from another mother who has been there is usually much better!

1 comment:

Robyn said...

I've been wondering the same thing! As a girl, I could always walk in on my mom while she was taking a bath and ask questions about life, etc. But with 2 boys, one of them now 6, I don't know when I need to start having my own private showers. I really don't want them to remember what I look like under all these clothes!
Let me know if you find an answer.