Let me say at the start that there is no way around the topic of nakedness in front of your children without getting personal and slightly uncomfortable. I’m already feeling somewhat tense as I type this.
I joke that the only person who should have to see me naked is my husband. He signed up for it, right? My kids certainly didn’t.
A lifetime of body image issues means I’m not one to walk around naked at home. But I don’t cover up around my daughters, 7 and 8, when I’m getting dressed or in the bathroom, either. I don’t want them to think there is anything wrong with my body or theirs.
And when they ask hilarious questions such as “Mom, why do your boobs hang?,” I can’t help but laugh and use the opportunity as a chance to tell them my body has changed over time and theirs will, too.
‘Brutally Honest’: When is it OK to leave your teen home alone overnight?
In conversations over email with mothers and fathers across the country and in Canada, it’s clear there is no “one size fits all'” approach to the questions of whether it’s OK to be naked in front of your kids and if there’s an age when it’s no longer OK.
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For instance, one study found no negative impact on adolescents who regularly saw their parents naked at ages 3 and 6, but another study found that parental nudity when kids were ages 6 to 11 resulted in more permissive attitudes about sex and increased sexual frequency.
For some parents, like Maryellen, a mom of two young girls on Long Island, who only wanted to use her first name, it’s all about convenience.
“I’ll be honest. Sometimes it’s easier and faster just to pull them into the shower with me,” she said. “But my girls are 4 and 6. A year from now I may not be doing it any longer. By then, they may be showering by themselves (dare to hope?)”
Do you think it’s OK to be naked in front of your kids? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook.
