Nakisch

Let's get NAKISCH!!

by H. Boehnke-Sharp

Come on, get nakisch (naked) too Momma!” Ha! I wish! Already I have to TRY to teach that getting nakisch in the house or backyard is ok, but don’t go out the front door like that! Sad, but true, we already got comments at the lake about letting her take her wet bathing suit off and sit naked with a towel around her. My God, she is not even three.

Here we go, major culture clash. In Europe, kids, and adults for that matter, strip down at the first ray of sun. You rarely see toddlers or small kids in swimsuits, and I NEVER saw a swim diaper. I lived in the city, and when the sun came out, the parks and riversides were dotted with little and big “nakedeis”. It was very normal, and no one thought anything of it.

We teach our daughter the same thing. Run naked. Feel good. Know your body.

I would think that every parent who practices AP would have the same openness to being naked as I do. Especially since many Attached Moms are breastfeeding, some of them through the toddler years. I was surprised to find it is not necessarily so, even in AP circles.

This was very strange for me, didn’t make sense, so I brought it up in a friendly round! It seems as it is taking society in the U.S. a long, hard time to get used to breastfeeding and the family bed. To run around naked is still too much. You are either weird, eccentric or perverted! Many of my friends admit it was the way they were raised; they weren’t allowed to change in front of anybody, and the NEVER went into the bathroom with their parents (I am seriously contemplating installing this rule!! Since I became a mother, I think I have taken 2 whole, private baths. Since my daughter can sit on the potty, it is always a double date!!)

I have to laugh at the last one, even though it is actually not funny. You see, if we go on with our open approach to nakedness, someone might report us. Or say we are exposing our daughter. Maybe the person who develops my films will see one of the beautiful pictures I took of my daughter watering her garden with only her boots and hat on, and I will get arrested for child pornography. This has happened to other parents, and it is a shame that I have to think like that. I like to throw out the opinion that a little openness can go a long way, especially when it comes to self-confidence, security and safety.

I will take things as they come. Right now, I will let my daughter enjoy herself, and be free. I will have the satisfaction of knowing that we are open about breasts and butts! I also know that we will avoid that someone “touching my daughter funny”, because she already knows what is hers, and that no one touches :).

Greetings, enjoy the last lazy days of summer!

Heike Boehnke-Sharp is the momma to two angels, two dogs, and lives with her best friend & husband in CA. A German native, see she's her society a little different, and comments on that in her articles. She writes a monthly online coloum, "Attachment Parenting with a Twist", is currently working on a novel, and is a work at home momma who spends her "free" time working on her mission, to raise her daughter and help other parents be able to do so to. For more info, see www.FantasticFests.com