A few weeks ago, we were at a child's birthday party. There was the sound of laughing children and chatting adults. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. A lovely day. There was a moon-bounce, a swing set, and a wading pool. We brought the kids to the party in swim attire, knowing that they'd be playing in water. Caleb ran over to play in the wading pool and Gideon wandered around the yard. Matt and I were conversing with other parents.
One of the other moms who happened to be checking in on the wading pool kids politely interrupted with, "Hey Heather, it looks like someone is getting pretty comfortable over there." Several things flashed through my mind. Caleb was up to something, but what? I quickly walked around the moon-bounce that had obscured my view and then dashed to the wading pool when I spotted my 2-year-old standing there stark naked! I approached Caleb and asked him why he had taken his clothes off. He informed me matter-of-factly, "I'm not all wet anymore Mommy." As I directed him to get dressed, "give me your leg, now your other leg," I'm explaining to him that he's wearing bathing trunks and a rash guard and how they're supposed to get wet and how he should not just strip down to nothing around so many people or outside or unless he's getting ready to hop in the tub. All the while, the splashing gaggle of little girls ranging in age from 4-6 years old are all squealing in unison, "Ew, ew, ewwww, GROSS!!" Fortunately, after re-dressing him and emphasizing the importance of staying clothed, we've avoided any further exhibitionism.
That is until yesterday... I was in the kitchen starting dinner and I may or may not have been semi-distracted checking out some cooking blogs for recipes which led me to non-cooking blogs and then down the rabbit hole that is the internet. Anyway, the kids were out on the back deck (adjacent to the kitchen), playing in the water table, and I was keeping an ear out for any problems.
The boys were getting along well enough but then suddenly I heard squealing and giggling followed by scampering feet. I peeked out the door, but they were out of view at the other corner of the deck. I stepped outside to see Gideon chasing a very nude Caleb. Apparently, they both found this hilarious. Admittedly, I did too but I attempted to stifle my laughter as I scooped up my super-pale nudie to rush him inside.
I'm thankful our 7-year-old neighbor girl was not present during this. I'm positive she would have had all kinds of commentary. I'm also thankful that the 10 or so neighbors in extremely close proximity (townhouse-living folks) were nowhere to be found (Phew! My parenting reputation remains untarnished, ha!!).
I questioned Caleb as to why he had taken his clothes off. Similarly to his reasoning during the previous episode, he explained that his clothes were "all wet" and he wanted "to be dry." I again told him that when he's playing with water (other than in the tub) it's okay for his clothes to be wet, etc., etc. I'm sure my words went completely unheard. From this point forth, whenever water play is involved, I suppose I will have to keep an extra-close eye on Caleb.
Silver lining? I figure I can brag to other parents about Caleb being totally into wearing his only suit even on the hottest of days. I'll just omit the part about that suit being of the birthday variety. ;)
(I would have included a picture but technology is not always on our side and I've lost ALL of my iPhone photos. It's a good lesson to learn I suppose. Backup your stuff frequently folks!)
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