“Deh-deeeeeh.. deh-neh-neeeeh.. neh-neh-neh… I can’t get no… satisfaction….”
“DADDEE!”
“Yes?” [ Perhaps she isn't ready for Daddee's shower-singing ]
“I need to Ngg Ngg!!” (That’s the verb for pooping)
[ Uh-oh, I am in the shower, & the only available help is downstairs NOT within shouting earshot ] I stop what I am doing, open the translucent shower door, wrap my towel around my waist, & open the door to “rescue” her urgency.
I lead her into the bathroom toilet, pull down her pants, & lift her onto the toddler-toilet-seat equipped toilet.
Her eyes are on my manly-man chest, then darts left & right on my nipples, then drops a little to my six-pack stomach… OK OK I lie, but you get the point. She’s very rarely seen me topless; only when we go swimming but even then she is too busy splashing & have not needed to face me directly like this.
At this time my mind races to plan the next steps. [ OK, while she ngg-ngg's, I will dash back into the shower to finish off, hopefully by the time I towel off, she'd be done, then I can rinse her off (at least I'd be dry), get her pants back on, & usher her outta here for my quick getting-dressed too ]
Which I did (dash back into the shower & close the screen). But of course you already know things didn’t pan out that way. She was done before I was.
“Daddee I have finished!” And proceeds to slowly climb down from the toilet.
Yikes. “Daddee’s not finished yet, can you wait for Daddee a little while longer?”
“Okaaaayyyy….” Along with the toddler-toilet-seat, we also got her a small step stool for her to easily get on & off the toilet. It also doubles up as a small stool to sit /semi-squat on if one needs to wash stuff on the floor.
I can see this through the translucent screen: She pulls up this stool, positions it facing squarely at the shower screen door, & sits legs closed hands on her lap, as if posing for a portrait. Except she is naked waist down, waiting for Daddee as instructed. There is no escape for this butt-naked Daddee now.
As discretely & swiftly as I could, I slide the door open just wide enough for me to reach my towel on the rack near the door. You guessed it, her gaze drops trying to steal a peek at my nether regions; to the extent she leans to the side for a better view.
I feel so dirty.
On this issue of whether one’s kid(s) should see the parents naked, I for one am not sure where I stand on this, or whether it should be tackled at all- ie, just NEVER appear nude at all in front of the kids, regardless of gender of the exposer and the exposee.
I know my elder brother, for example, have showered, or at least appeared nude infront of at least one of his kids when they were toddlers.
I have also heard of dads who bathe together with the kids in, say, the bathtub, again while they were toddlers. I know this because there were jokes where the toddler, probably still at the not-speaking age yet, picking at the dad’s pubes.
What is your take on this issue? Do you strut around naked infront of your kid? Not be so uptight about being walked-in? Bathe with the little man / woman?
We used to shower the kids, as young as 3 months old, with one parent and the other will dress them after. Then when he turned 3 we decided that Micah was too old for this kind of exposure, especially since he became quite curious about his genital (it’s appropriate and healthy). So now we lock the bathroom doors when it is in use. The only time I take him in with me is at public toilets when no one else can watch him.
I have to be honest and say this is something I wasn’t originally comfortable with, but there was little that could be done when my daughter was two and refused to use a bath and demanded on being held in the shower. Once my wife was heavily pregnant there was no option so at her insistance I had to take over shower duty. Since then it has been no problem for me and never an issue for the toddler – she apparently asked my wife about the difference, and was perfectly happy with the explanation of ‘That’s how we can tell the difference between boys and girls’. Now she showers or baths alone (baths are back in favor), but occassionally she wants to share with either one of us and it just another happy fun time we share. I think we often place our fears and inhibitions on the toddlers and just set them up for passing on our hang ups. But it is a tricky one
Thanks guys for your comments.
I haven’t discussed this with Mummee, but I guess for us it may not be much of an issue if it’s the same gender…? Ie, Caitlin with Mummee, and the little fella (soon!) with me…. I don’t know.
Like with Moomykin, I have also started locking the door when I am using the bathroom. First few times I forgot to and she walked in, she was again trying to peer past the shower curtain/screen. The last few times, I think since she’s been told, she would heed my urging to wait for me outside till I finished in the shower, and seemed happily enough closing the door behind her.
My little man is only 9 months old, so he can’t point or ask questions. I have no problem being naked in front of him. I don’t walk around naked in front of him unless I have to…for example if I am sleeping nekkid and he wakes up in the middle of the night…I just walk into his room and pick him up without getting dressed. I have washed him in the shower with me a few times when we were in a hurry to go somewhere, but he usually bathes by himself.
Momma is kinda freaked out about being nude in front of him. Probably because of the gender difference. He tends to grab at Momma’s upper region…and that makes her uncomfortable.
I would probably be a little weird about being nekkid in front of my daughter if I had one. Hard to say.
Good post!