Over breakfast this morning, I showed Maya, 3, the picture that accompanied this article in the New York Times: “When do they need a fig leaf?”

She looked at the cute three-year-old in the picture, cavorting joyfully naked through a forest of (dressed) grownup legs, and smiled.

“Look at her hands!” she said.

I loved that. I loved that what struck her was not the lack of clothes, but that the kid was dancing with hands stretched out. I hope she never loses that.

Of course she will.

And it’ll probably be because of me. The story is about kids who like to be bare and their parents’ comfort (discomfort) level with that. Or the grandparents’ comfort level. A naked three-year-old who won’t put on her clothes is cute. But what about a five-year-old? A nine-year-old?

I have to admit that I call away my own five-year-old when, fresh from her bath, she stands by the front door, peering out through the screen door. Yet I’ll blithely change them out of their swimsuits by a public wading pool. Not sure if there’s any real logic there….but there’s always a nagging sense of….something.

I’m less worried about propriety than the fact there may be someone watching whom you don’t want to be watching. Just a slight nagging sense. Not too much but enough to think about.

Cribsheeters? Any little nudists in your home? What do you think is the appropriate upper age limit?

Last weekend the kids and I were playing on the driveway. Vivian was playing with sidewalk chalk by the garage. I bent over to help Ben get a rock out of his shoe. In a blink Vivi was running down the driveway full speed heading towards the street. To my left I saw a van coming around the corner. I swear time stopped and I flew down the driveway in a blur. One arm outstretched waving wildly at the van and scooping up Vivian with the other. Luckily it was a neighbor who drives slowly and cautiously down the block. Many don’t. My heart was up in my throat as I carried her back in my arms. A reminder, that it just takes a split second for the unthinkable to occur.

This morning, Gail Rosenblum’s column made my heart go right back in my throat as she discussed the recent tragedies of children hit by cars. She also mentioned something I had never heard. Children’s peripheral vision isn’t fully developed until they reach their teen years. You can read her column here “Kids can’t help being kids, so let’s keep them safe”

Today we have an inquiry from Cribsheeter Katy. Seems her son is part of the slow food movement, and it’s eating in to their precious family time. Read on and let her know of any suggestions you have to help her son speed things up at mealtime.

Hi May and Kay

I’m wondering if anyone has had any luck helping slow eaters move a little faster…? I realize this is not the worst problem one could have…but our son (4 ½) will literally sit at his plate for over an hour. And he DOES eventually eat…just EXCRUCIATINGLY slowly. I think the problem is that he is really easily distracted, and the eating area in our tiny house is right in the living room! So it’s not so much of an EATING problem as a DAWDLING problem, I guess. It’s not a terrible thing, but it does cut into family time that we might otherwise have to take a post-dinner walk or whatever together. Is it appropriate to set a time limit? When we ask him to move a little faster, he’ll eat one bite quickly and then it’s back to his usual glacial pace. I’m just wondering how others would handle this.

Thanks!

Katy

Did you see the front page of the Star Tribune on Mother’s Day? The featured article was about Jennifer McKinney, a local mother of four.
She is a talented photographer who is fiercely dedicated to her children and writes a blog read by seemingly the entire world - mycharmingkids.net

For those of you who aren’t familiar with her story or blog you can read Gail Rosenblum’s eloquent article online now. Click below.
“One mom’s miracle”

Editor’s note: We have turned commenting off on this post due to the unfortunate nature of the discussion.

I was a cloth diaper baby. Tydee Dydeee Diaper Service was a regular visitor at our house back in Illinois.
My siblings still tell me to this day about that stinky diaper pail and those pokey diaper pins.
Well - these days cloth diapers have vastly improved.
We were just discussing cloth diapers and day care last week.
In today’s Star Tribune you’ll find this article by Sarah Moran about the resurgence in the popularity of cloth diapers.
May and I both were/are “disposable” parents and learned how prevalent cloth diapers were becoming last year when we visited the Parenting Oasis in South Minneapolis.
One woman showing us around told us “We have regular diaper swaps.”
May and I asked “Oh you mean, like when you just buy a new jumbo case of size 3 diapers and your kid starts blowing out of them and you need to start buying size 4 and you have all of these leftovers?”
“No. We have a cloth diaper swap.”
“Oh.” and we instantly knew our kids would probably be in the minority for having Sesame Street characters on their diapers.
Are you are a cloth diaper user? - Which ones do you recommend? Pros? Cons?

Take the StarTribune.com Poll: Which diaper is best?