Nakedness

Have you ever been at a loss for words?  I don't know...but it seems I get this way with my kids sometimes.  And for a girl that loves to gab, this actually surprises me.

So my girls take swim lessons at a nice facility.  Now I'd tell you that this place is in Chapel Hill.  And you might draw some conclusions from that, and that is fine.  Just keep in mind the folks there are free spirited, in a very Chapel Hill way.  Ok?

So after swim lessons my girls take little showers, which for some reason is the highlight of the lesson itself.  Well, knowing this is Chapel Hill, free spirited reigning facility, y'all, all the women are naked.  And right before my girls get done with swim there is a class with a whole lotta much older women.  These said women are very comfortable in their skin.  And so comfortable that they are quite naked.  Just dropping their clothes to take a shower and all, stop to have a conversation about their exercise class.  It's like the naked elderly happy hour.

Y'all, they carry on naked conversations with each other!  They don't cover up their tatas, they might even use them in conversation.  I don't know.  It's a scene.  It sure is a scene.

And as girls in this house we talk about our bodies- beautifully created by the Creator, every nook and cranny.  Mine looks very different from theirs and why.  We girls in this house are just open in an appropriate modest way.  That's all I know to be.  So I am not offended by the nakedness but...

I get our little set-up in a place that is a little private, but y'all they don't care.  They just come around with their naked bodies, all smiling and doting on my girls.  Girls eyes are big as saucers.  Water dripping from the shower, all happy from their exercise class.  Now that's a lot of closeness and a bit creepy.

And so last Monday I thought I had us all set up, as private as I could get.  Then a very large older woman comes within three feet of my girls, undresses and...brace yourself...bends over.  Oh my word.  That's up there on things I have never seen.

I'm still ok with the nakedness/morality of this happy hour- I'm not judging.  But we women in this house cover it up in public.  And here's the fear:  Their jaws drop and my littlest opens her mouth to talk...and you just never know with the little one.  What comes up comes out.  So we're nearly ready and I whisk them off talking about their favorite dessert which is sure to distract from whatever that little one was going to say, probably about that ladies HUGE FANNY and, well, other things she saw.  And if I know these women, they clearly love their bodies and I love that they love their bodies and perhaps they wouldn't be offended by a little four year old talking about their parts but I just don't want to go there.  Ok?

So that was a safe one.  Until tomorrow when we face this circus again.  And I've got a plan to talk with them beforehand and we're just going to be ok with it all.

Last week we were going to another location, this one in the privacy of our own van.  Driving down the road, we passed the spicy store "Adam and Eve."  And my oldest says, "Oh mommy!  They love Jesus!"  And I was like, well, um, not exactly that kinda store.  "Well mommy, what do they sell? Those were pretty underwear in the window."  And I said, "They sell underwear."  And she says, "Have you ever gone in there?"  And I said, "Ummm... you know, let's talk about this when you are older."  And here she says, "Why?"  And all I could think of was, "It's inappropriate for now, but I'm putting this on my list for later, ok?"

Inappropriate for now, but filled with rich conversation for later when mommy has thought and prayed through her answers.  Conversations meant to happen with me as their mama.  And as they grow and learn it's a little tricky and a whole lotta funny sometimes.  But one thing's for sure- we're talking about it when it comes time.  We're going to be open.  We're going to be Biblical.  We're going to be real.  We're going to be modest.

In fact sex education starts early- it has already started- in bit by bit discussions, all framed within a picture of God's beauty.  Because their bodies are temples, made for glory.  This stuff is too good to not discuss.