seeing my mom naked when I was a 45 year old and the horror of realizing that HER breasts were still really good looking and mine were so pointing down. This woman had six kids, I have had zero kids. And SHE has the perky breasts. It scarred me for life. Don't let this happen to your kids, my friends.

In a home with only three females (mother, sister and I) seeing each other naked was totally normal. But we didn't eat breakfast naked or have naked Sundays, or read books naked, or do other things that you normally wouldn't do naked. We shared bathrooms a lot as there were only 1 1/2 baths so seeing either of us getting in or out of the shower was no biggy, walking into someone's room while they were changing or just looking around the closet for something to wear while still completely naked, was also normal. I was a senior in high school and still would run into mother's rooms to borrow a belt or something and find her naked getting ready herself. It was no issue at all. Those were all situations in which you expect people might be naked (getting dressed, in the shower etc) so there was no shadow of deviance around it. I never once got the sense that my mother or sister were getting naked just to hang out and show themselves. It was always completely incidental with the normal flow of household life. There was never staring or uncomfortable vibes around it. It just made sense that you would be naked at certain times and there was nothing wrong with that.

Perhaps in another case a particular family member may feel uncomfortable with running into someone who's naked in the home, and those situations are fairly easy to avoid: knock before you enter a bedroom or bathroom. Some people are naturally more modest and like any other family boundary, members of the household should naturally respect such modesty by not parading themselves naked around in "general" use areas of the home such as hallways, living room, kitchen etc.

Nudity has a natural place in our lives and does not need to be a taboo, and I think most families can generally sense where their comfort level is, if you don't overthink it too much.

I grew up in a very "naked" home. My mom and dad didn't go out of their way to be naked in front of us, but it was never a shock to see someone un-clothed before hopping in the shower, or as they were getting out, or as they were changing clothes. On several occasions one or more of us would be spotted running around naked from our room to the laundry room searching for clean, dry clothes.

My sister would be naked all the time if she could. Though I am quite comfortable with nudity, I tend to be a little more conservative. Neither she nor I are scarred in any way. Coincidentally, we also know (and use) the technical terms like penis, testicles, vagina and breasts as opposed to "hoo-ha", "pee-pee", "ta-tas" and other unflattering terms used to describe the human body. God, how I do hate the euphemisms!

There's a time and place for everything. As children get older, perhaps it is time to start practicing a little discretion. Children are vocal - if this mom does not take the first step, there is no doubt at some point one of the children will say "Jesus, mom, put some clothes on."

People get so hung up on nudity. They associate it with being sexual or dirty. Bodies are bodies - big, little, old, young, and everyone has one. Is it really such a big deal to see one un-covered?

There's a time, place and context for being naked. Those who raise their children with the notion that being nude or letting others see you naked, are wrong or dirty just perpetuate an unnatural view of a completely natural thing.

There have been quite a few letters that say something like, "My parents never walked around naked, I only saw them naked a few times, and those few times were absolutely traumatic".

There have also been quite a few letters that say, "My parents treated nudity like no big deal, and when I saw them naked I didn't think it was a big deal either".

Anyone else making the same connection that I am?

Of COURSE it was traumatic to see your parents naked if they normally hid themselves away. They had taught you that the body was shameful, so when you DID see a body, you felt shame and disgust.

I believe that teaching such bodily shame is wrong and immoral. I believe that equating nakedness with sexuality hurts children more by making the inevitable moments when they see you naked (and it will happen eventually if you are living in the same house) traumatic.

And there are plenty of people in the US who are naked in their homes, its not just something that those durn furrin folk like the Japanese and Europeans do. And given that the US is a country of immigrants, I think it is safe to assume there are a fair amount of those durn furriners here. Just because YOU are from a family of non-nudity doesn't mean all Americans are. There's nothing inherently American about walking around your house clothed.

Also, being naked doesn't mean you don't believe in privacy. It's not like you're reading the kids diary or barging into their room when the door is locked. Being naked also doesn't mean that you don't have bounderies. It doesn't mean you are parading yourself. It just means you don't have clothes on. It really is no big deal.

All throughout my childhood my father used to walk around the house in jean cut-off shorts, flip flops, and no shirt. That's it, nothing else, VERY usual. I'm pretty confident that Gordon (my dad's name) raised a well adjusted, normal kid. I think he dressed like this when he was at home for comfort and practicality because he was always puttering around cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. I watched him move about the house once. I swear he hardly stopped, even after putting me to bed. If Dad wore any more than he did, I think the poor man would have keeled over from being overheated. A child seeing their parent nude/partially clothed is fine, as long as they're not making dinner in the buff. A lot of commenters here pointed out that the body exposed isn't always a sexual thing. They're right. Seeing my dad's bare skinny chest and chicken legs on a daily basis (he was only fully dressed when he went to work) was completely innocent.