The State of Undress

We have been having a long running "discussion" with my son. When Zane was younger, clothing was essential; everybody had to be dressed. He even chastised characters on television if they weren't fully clothed.

Then my son decided that he wasn't going to wear any clothing at all. Since they frown on this at most public places, we informed him that he could not go out of the house naked. We stuck to our guns. That seemed to work for a bit. Zane has now decided that clothing is optional. As soon as he enters a home, he immediately strips to his skivvies, even if the home in question is not his. This has certainly made the idea of attending children's birthday parties more interesting.

Is this stripping a guy thing? My husband doesn't run around the house naked, but as soon as he walks in the door after work, he strips down and gets "comfortable". I've heard similar stories from other women about their men, enough to know that it is not just my house that strips. I don't know, nor have I ever heard, of this phenomenon occurring in women. I might change into shorts or my jammies after a long day, but I don't walk in the door and strip. I suppose that this tendency might reflect the generally positive body image that med seem to share. Or maybe it's all about comfort. All I know is that I sometimes get a little jealous of that ability to just throw off clothing and let go of the cares of the day.

We will leave clothes for Zane to put on, but odds are that my son won't be wearing them.

Instead, he will put on a hat. When we ask him about clothes, Zane exclaims that he is NOT NAKED! in a loud and proud voice.

Or he will put on just his shirt, and again point out that he is NOT NAKED.

One day, I came down stairs and he was wearing nothing but his backpack and shoes. He was ready to go to his grandma's house, he told me. I told him that he could not go outside naked.

"I not naked!" Zane asserted. And technically he was right--he was not naked.

I don't think that would have been enough for Grandma's tender sensibilities, but it might have been worth it to see the look on her face.

Naked In The Garden

Last night I was helping my son get ready for bed. He had decided on wearing his Sponge Bob pajamas, and I was looking for the top to go with the bottoms. Having finally found what I was looking for, I turned around. Clothes strewn around his feet, Zane was standing in the doorway of his room, completely naked, his hands on his hips in the classic Superman pose.

"I'm NAKED!!!" He announced proudly, and I had to smile. He was so very happy about being naked. I reflected that most children his age are perfectly happy being in the altogether, and most adults MY age are not. That very awesome joyfulness at just BEING that all little kids have goes away somewhere, and most of us never get that back. That's kind of sad.

Not that I really WANT to see a bunch of people my age running around naked. Ew. If I were to show my own pale backside in public, a dude named Ahab would certainly show up! But it would be nice if more adults could just be who they are in the proverbial garden without worrying about whether they are missing their fig leaf.