Recently while at a birthday party, I overheard a conversation between two elementary school teachers. Their conversation put a smile on my face as well as eased my mind to an endearing habit/normalcy of raising children in the country. These teachers were talking about recess duty and how easily it is to spot the "property kids". These young, nature's children are the ones who take their clothes off when too hot in the classroom and on the playground or choose to pee outside under an inviting tree instead of using a public restroom.
Anyone who has spent any length of time with The Little Girls is quickly clued in to their "property kid" status. While Savannah has grown out of peeing outside (she is a bit more sophisticated, and besides "princesses don't potty under trees."), Ivy prefers it when spending time in The Great Outdoors. These girls are more frequently running around the house in their underwear (January or July, whatevs...) than in clothes and so just this week I had to make a new rule of being properly dressed while playing outside on the play-set, thus preventing all manner of naked side effects; sunburns and bug bites in unfortunate places, possible creepy people lookie-looing through the fence while driving by and owies made worse by way of zero cloth protection. When I explained this new rule to The Little Girls they looked at me confused like I was speaking backwards and in a foreign language. Funny how they don't wonder how telephones or televisions work but telling them they must wear clothes outside seems incredibly complicated. They struggled less with understanding how Grady was born. Being raised on property myself I struggle with this new rule too. I want The Little Girls to feel free to be however and whatever they want to be without casting a shadow of cultural conformity and body image perversity. Saying this now I feel like perhaps they still have a few good years where their birthday-suits are appropriate childhood attire.
As evidenced by Ivy:
