Garden of Eden

For some reason, I can’t get Sammy’s conversation with his little female friend from school last week out of my head. It was innocent and unextraordinary except for one thing. Both of them were completely naked. Before you wonder what kind of a freaky duck pond I’m running here, please note that both were getting ready for swimming lessons in the women’s locker room at Loras College. As every mother of a six year old boy knows—there are really no alternatives to getting dressed for swimming other than the women’s locker room, at least as long as swimming lessons are Mom’s job and take place immediately after school. When I realized that Sam’s classmate was in the same lesson, I had a moment of pause. It seemed a little, I don’t know, awkward, I guess, to look across the locker room and see a naked classmate of the opposite sex.

But Sammy has 3 sisters and his little friend has 2 brothers. It was the most natural thing in the world (no pun intended) for them to interact while going about the business of changing into swimwear. Last week, his little friend got to the locker room about 5 minutes before her Mom (who, consequently, also has 4 kids under age 8—including a 10 month old baby). So, this pretty little girl proceeded to undress and then stand casually next to Sam, chatting and waiting patiently for her mom and her swimsuit to catch up to her. It was the sweetest, most innocent thing.

I can’t help but wonder if this will be a future source of embarrassment (or maybe pride?) for my little man. It is probably worth noting that this little girl’s mom is completely gorgeous—so the daughter has the genetic material to turn into the class hottie. This other mother resembles Cameron Diaz (no kidding) and even though she wears almost no makeup, pulls her perfect blonde hair into a messy ponytail most days, and dresses (at least when I’ve seen her) only in jeans and t-shirts, there is no way to hide that kind of beauty. (She’s the mom that makes my “I look pretty good for a mother of 4” fly right out the window—her good looks and perfect body not requiring the qualifier “for a mother of 4”).

It was a sweet moment, though, no matter what, if anything, they think about it later. Sam heard me telling the story later and he felt obligated to explain it a little better. “See, Mom, her mommy didn’t get downstairs with her swimsuit yet. That’s why she had to wait,” he clarified. If I had to wait for someone to bring me a swimsuit, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t undress BEFORE waiting. That was my only point. But I guess that’s my own problem.