Those Crazy Kids

My kids have a habit of jumping into bed with me, which in and of itself I generally don't mind. After all, when it's their bedtimes, I tend to lay in bed with them for a few minutes too. This ritual helps assure that I have at least a few minutes every day with my girls... a few minutes for talking, hugging, unwinding... a little time devoted to my daughters, each evening, so they know that I love them. Heck, even if we've spent the day arguing, this precious few minutes at the end of each day serves as a reminder that I love them no matter what.

Occasionally though, the kids will burst in to my bedroom at inopportune moments. And being kids, they tend to continually "forget" that I expect them to knock on my door before entering. Again, this isn't a big issue (other than their inability to understand that sometimes dad needs a few minutes alone), except that I frequently sleep in my birthday suit, and in all honesty I find it a little creepy when the kids jump in bed with me if I'm not at least wearing some skivvies.

This is my issue, of course, and I don't want to make a big deal out of it. After all, the kids have walked in when I'm in the shower, or when I'm on the commode, and that doesn't bother me at all. And if I do make a big deal out of it, I may unwittingly contribute to any negative body images that they could experience in the future. This doesn't really ease my discomfort though.

Fortunately, they're starting to understand. Every now and then, they'll jump in bed when I'm only wearing what I was born with; they usually discover this as they're flinging the covers back to jump in bed with me, exclaiming "That's gross!" dropping the covers back into place, and leaving me to fall back asleep. Since they're starting to get it, I've started telling them I'm naked before they climb onto the bed. That usually stops them.

The other day though, my older daughter crept into the room and started to climb into bed with me. As she began pulling back the covers, I said that I didn't have any clothes on. "That's okay," she responded. She then put the covers back down, walked around the bed, and slept on the other side, where my wife usually sleeps. Leave it to teenage logic. Somehow she understood that it was creepy to climb in to bed right next to me, yet thought it was perfectly acceptable to jump in to the other side.