ON THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERWEAR

Being a mother of small children can be surreal at times, especially because we all tend to take for granted how much of our human behavior is shaped by our environment. Take the importance of underwear, for example.

My youngest daughter, just shy of 2 years old, is of the mind of late that a diaper or other covering for her privates is completely unnecessary. And she is not potty trained yet. Usually I am alerted to the dire situation unfolding in the other part of the house by one of the other children screaming, "UGH, Shelby is naked!!!!" At night, we have taken to duct-taping her diaper on because she delights in taking it off as a bedtime ritual.

All this begs for her to be potty-trained, and we are working on that. But my point, here is, what is the big deal anyway? In many cultures around the world, going commando or nearly so is the norm.

What is evident from my experiences with all my children is that left to our own natural desires we would probably not wear much clothing, except when forced to do so by the elements. It's the state of nature, as Rousseau would say. So, if this is the case, why did I just spend hundreds of dollars on clothes for my kids for school? See, its all conditioning - we are slaves to the fashion impulses of our culture.

That is except for underwear/diapers/pullups, which I really do think are important. It's in the Bible after all - or at least all the illustrations in kids Bibles - pictures of Adam and Eve wearing fig leaves, right? And although many cultures are far less acquisitive about clothing than our society, universally in nearly every human culture there is some form of covering used for the private areas. Then, of course, there is the issue of people peeing on the floor, which can be unpleasant.

So my conclusion is that I need to press forward with helping my youngest child to understand the importance of underwear. Let's hope she catches on quickly.