Sunny wrote about several young people who were facing the issue of how to still be a Naturist and also remain acceptable with their other friends who have not been raised within a Naturist family. Do people here have any experience with their children going through this and, if so, what, if anything, have they done to help their children come through this time?

Never mind! Obviously not something people are willing, or maybe able, to talk about. On to a different subject... maybe.

Hi, OzTech:

I'm a barefooter. I haven't always gone barefooted. Following a surgeon's advice in Twenty-ten,to "...go barefooted when you can..." to help my recovery from a surgery, I began, but encountered so many complaints, that I learned ways to talk my way into it.

That didn't mean that I could convince any store to let me come in unless I put shoes on. That only meant that I could rally some understanding friends to agree with my new practice.

Like nudity, barefooting is frowned on -- to the point that everyone thinks that it's against the law. Stepping out without shoes to slip on if you make anyone else uncomfortable, ain't quite the way to convince anyone. Ya gotta talk about it to get anyone to see your point.erson

Every person who frowns on barefooting around town can be swayed by a barefooted person who can explain why it's okay -- why it's beneficial.

Nudity can be illustrated the same way. Without pushing your habit in their face, calmly talk it up. It'll require logic on their part, but if we show how logical it is, they will begin to think a bit more logically.

Hi OzTech

Sorry to be so late on this. First off, I will say that there are no indications of our youngsters feeling any sort of shame or nonacceptance from any of their peers in any way. Most of them don’t even know about how we may choose to dress at home or with select others or in certain places. We don’t consider it a secret; it’s just not anything that others have any particular need to know.

Second, we don’t put any kind of label on how we choose to be dressed or not. We almost never use the words nudism and naturism. And we never talk about it as a lifestyle. Nude living and recreation is just how it’s always been in our family. Brian and I were doing this from day 1 in our marriage and it’s continued on to this day. There was never a beginning to it in the minds of our children. It’s how our family has always been. We’ve always explained it as one of the traditions or ways of our family and that many families do not do this like we do. They have their own traditions and ways, and that’s OK. It’s the same as for example the different ways that families choose to celebrate holidays or birthdays. Within this framework, our children were taught that there are expected ways to dress for certain things. For example, you have to dress a certain for school, and a certain way for church, and a certain way for using the pool when we have guests. Etc, etc. Beyond such situations, you’re free to be as you like.

Third, it’s not an all-or-nothing kind of thing in our family. Any of us can be dressed or not at any time we want, with exceptions like the above when we have guests in the house. It’s not complicated. We all have a freedom of choice. A lot of the time we just tend to stay the way we are.

Sure, there have been times when the wires got crossed and somebody saw somebody, but it wasn’t the end of the world. At least not so far. And there has been one of Callie’s friends who figured it out, but that was only because she had a keen interest in it.

So that’s how we are.

Clear as mud? Probably. But please give me credit for trying.

Thanks!

Sunny

Sunny,

Thank you for the brief update on how things have developed with your children. It is really encouraging to hear that, like you and Brian, they are turning out so comfortable with being clothed, or not, in whatever situations that they may find themselves in. It really is not about any sort of label but just about what is practical, normal and being who you are as God made you. We are Christians. Whatever else we may be is secondary... or even further down the list.

I had rather thought that, being who you are and the way you were able to relate with others, your children would take on many of the same attitudes that you have displayed. Hopefully this also extends to your commitment to God. It is such a challenge these days for parents to raise children in Godly order and have them come to develop their our relationship with the Lord when so much of the world's focus is on trying to draw them away.

From what I have read at another site it does seem like not every family have had children that remain comfortable with being nude. I guess that one of the things that would always be necessary with children, as they grow up, is to maintain an open and honest conversation with them. This is not always an easy thing to do within some families.

The Lord Bless,

OzTech