grrrr, someone called the police on me

[lilyka]

was I out of line really?

we have a community garden plot. We have been out of town for three weeks. lots of weeding, replanting, watering etc to do. So we get out to the plot and have about 1-2 hours to work. instantly Ava pees her pants and gets her dres soaked as well. So it weas hot, the bugs weren't out, she is 2 so I let her run free. the fresh air on her tush perked her up and her and her sisters ran around acting goofey and being kids. thier mission was to make sure she didn't sit on any thistles. actually I wished I had a camera. here was my naked baby with nothing but a crown of creeping jenny on her head. so pretty. So at some point a lady drives by and screams "get some clothes on that kid" at first i thought she was joking, you know like "oh to be two again and be allowed to run around naked. but then she kept driving by and I thought to myself "well crap . . she is going to call the police" sure enough 1/2 an hour later the police show up. I rolled my eyes, he rolled his eyes, asked if I could split the difference and take something off my 5 year old to put on my 2 year old (which is pretty funny if you think about it)

Anyway nothing really came of it, we found a spare pair of my 8 year olds undies in the car and everyone was satisfied with that. the police hung out in case the lay drove by again to check and make sure (she was a little threatening).

So my question is, was a totally out of line letting mybaby run around naked. there was no one else there (I seriously don't know how that lady focused in on my dd. we were over 100 ft from the road with garden plots between us and the road, and hardly anyone uses that road), we weren't in some place where her nakedness was harmful to others etc. even if she peed on the ground no one was at risk for stepping in it. was it inappropriate? I didn't se anythign wrong with it but maybe I am wrong. would you let your baby be naked in semi-public?

[elsie]

Well I let my DD run around naked in my front yard the other day, but what do I know

[momatheart23]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Don't let the lady's negativity damper your child't spirit. I mean even the cop thought she was crazy. It was actually nice he stayed to keep her away from you.

[bleurae]

No, not at all, it was natural and completely ok. The problem is our society. When my son was 1 I had neighbors worn me about letting him run around our front yard naked. I did it anyway. He rarely wore clothes EVER before two. Now he asks for them often, a phase I hope, but if he wants I still don't mind it. I ran around naked until 11 years old, no joke. My parents had a heck of a time trying to keep clothes on me. The awful part is that someone CAN report it to CPS and they CAN open a case over it. I found this out by my across-the-street neighbor, as she used to work for CPS(not the one who made the comment). No one told me to cover him, just warned me someone else "might". I also had a mom in my moms group have a neighbor threaten her if she let her daughter outside without clothes on. Her daughter was about 4 and they guy threatened CPS on her, she called them to ask if this was a possibility and they said yes, that it is illegal to have your children outside naked. It blew my mind. And I am in california.

Bleu


mama to bliss om rae

[eightyferrettoes]

Ridiculous. Babies love to be nakey, and I'd say a 2 year old is really just a baby yet. It's good for them! Even my very conservative, mainstream family lets babes get naked in the sun in the backyard.

[Diane~Alena]

LMAO I love how prudes try to rule the world! I personaly love naked babies I envy them being able to free.

My father hated it when I let my daughters run naked through the sprinkler he would drive by my house just to check up on me. I let my kids be naked for years and then one day when they were three I had a scare. I had a creepy man drive by my house and slow down when he saw my twin girls running naked as I watered my flowers, the creep almost hit someone while learing. Then the loser kept pulling U turns untill he finaly stopped to just stare at them. I was sickened, I kept thinking he was just looking at my pretty brown eyed susans but alas he was staring at my little three years. I haven't allowed my babies to be naked in public since. I love the human body we don't hide our nudity in my home but we have learned that some sicko's make the world unsafe for my babies to be nude in public.

I Think what you did was fine. I am sorry you now have a bad naked story just like me :

[Moss's Mommy]

Not at all. Let her do it while she can! Some people!!!!!

[Emzachsmama]

I wasn't comfortable letting my 2 yr old run around naked in public but that is just me...I don't care if other people do and it certainly isn't something that the police need to be called about! As if they don't have much more important things to be doing than making sure a 2 yr old's little tushie is covered!:

[littleaugustbaby]

Absolutely nothing wrong with it! She's just a baby, and what 2 year old doesn't like to run around naked?

[kimisaur]

I spent the afternoon today at the beach...that lady would have had a stroke for sure.....Naked babies everywhere! :LOL

-Kimberly

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by bleurae

No, not at all, it was natural and completely ok. The problem is our society. When my son was 1 I had neighbors worn me about letting him run around our front yard naked. I did it anyway. He rarely wore clothes EVER before two. Now he asks for them often, a phase I hope, but if he wants I still don't mind it. I ran around naked until 11 years old, no joke. My parents had a heck of a time trying to keep clothes on me. The awful part is that someone CAN report it to CPS and they CAN open a case over it. I found this out by my across-the-street neighbor, as she used to work for CPS(not the one who made the comment). No one told me to cover him, just warned me someone else "might". I also had a mom in my moms group have a neighbor threaten her if she let her daughter outside without clothes on. Her daughter was about 4 and they guy threatened CPS on her, she called them to ask if this was a possibility and they said yes, that it is illegal to have your children outside naked. It blew my mind. And I am in california.

Bleu


mama to bliss om rae

Un-freaking-real! My mom is a CPS supervisor with 25+ years experience. I recently had the naked child discussion with her. She said she would NEVER investigate or open a case on naked children running around outside. My kids run all over her yard naked and she thinks it's great. I'm always asking her questions because I see so many bogus threats to call CPS around here. (Not members making threats, but members being threatened.) She also says she would never investigate due to no-vaxing, extended breastfeeding, or co-sleeping. It's a good thing, or she'd have to investigate her own daughter!

As for naked kids outside being illegal in CA? Weird. Of course, I live in West Virginia and as I'm sure you've heard, we're just a bunch of shoeless hillbillies!:LOL

To the OP: You did nothing wrong!

[bleurae]

The thing is.....we don't really know for sure if it IS illegal or if they just said that, ya know what I mean. It seems sometimes with CPS here that one phonecall asking a question gets one answer and another gets a different answer. That is scary on soooo many levels. So if the person getting the call is in a good mood, or has a sensible head on their shoulders then you are ok but if not then you get a case???

I refuse to live my life in fear and controlled by judgemental whims, (obviously I am a single dyke hippy mama by choice) but it still really gets my goat!!


bleu


mama to bliss

[lilyka]

Thanks I feel better knowing I was not out of line letting her run free. I don't let them be naked at home much because we have a high concentration of sex offenders in our neighborhood. but as a general rule I have no concerns about naked babies. I find them quite enjoyable actually. there is just something fresh and summery about a naked toddler running around.

anyway, the law is sketchy. it falls under public indecency. as to when it is a litle naked baby that doesn't offend anyone and becomes a naked child that does is open to interpretation. while the police officer thought the whole thing was silly he was still obligated to find a solution since we weren't at home. and since the police became involved I was worried about social services becoming involved. Stupid. over a little two year old tush.

[flyingspaghettimama]

I've got a CPS family member as well too - naked babies would not really create a lot of attention or warrant investigation, unless they're oh...twelve or something. If the kids are healthy, the parents not defensive, and no bruises are evident, there's not a high chance that CPS is getting involved. They do get calls (i.e. nasty neighbors making stuff up or not knowing a full situation) but thoroughly investigate only a percentage. When you've got a kid getting whipped with electrical cords for punishment vs. naked babies, well you get the picture.

Sounds like that old lady was a prude! I mean, I wouldn't do it because of my neighborhood, but what does it matter if someone else does it, esp if we don't know the whole situation?! It sounds like the cop handled it really well, although it's funny that they even came out to see what was up...(that would pretty not much happen at all in my town).

[milli249]

makes me wonder about letting my 3y/o pee in the yard! he strips naked and sometimes I just let him be...sad that we have to worry about things like that.

[meemee]

i have faced the same situation. my then 20 month dd was naked on the porch and a couple of people driving by shouted 'put some clothes on on the child'. later my neighbour brought up the CPS issue. and i was like u must be joking. but like bleu pointed oiut it is just not worth the chance. i personally feel too u cannot trust teh CPS. it so depends on personal whims and fancies. another thing. i am not sure about this. i havent called to confirm. but if someone calls CPS on u - even for a totally wrong reason - isnt there a file created for u that never gets deleted. so even if u r not guilty CPS would still have a file on u.

but from then on i started working on my dd not going out naked. since she is naked all her time at home she learned pretty fast about outdoors. sometimes its all about underwear. so she could wear a dress or a loooong tshirt and totally skip the uw part. she liked that.

i get enough comments and dirty looks about being barefoot, wearing uw on teh head.

[newmommy]

Originally Posted by Diane~Alena

I had a creepy man drive by my house and slow down when he saw my twin girls running naked as I watered my flowers, the creep almost hit someone while learing. Then the loser kept pulling U turns untill he finaly stopped to just stare at them. I was sickened, I kept thinking he was just looking at my pretty brown eyed susans but alas he was staring at my little three years.some sicko's make the world unsafe for my babies to be nude in public.

this does make for something to be concerned about. I wouldn't have had a problem with it though.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by bleurae

The thing is.....we don't really know for sure if it IS illegal or if they just said that, ya know what I mean. It seems sometimes with CPS here that one phonecall asking a question gets one answer and another gets a different answer. That is scary on soooo many levels. So if the person getting the call is in a good mood, or has a sensible head on their shoulders then you are ok but if not then you get a case???

I refuse to live my life in fear and controlled by judgemental whims, (obviously I am a single dyke hippy mama by choice) but it still really gets my goat!!


bleu


mama to bliss

Yeah, I bet it's not illegal. Also, I'd like to add that the district where my mom works in CPS is a three county district and she is the supervisor and there is one social worker under her. So, she is pretty much the only one who makes the decision to investigate. It's not like there are lots of different social workers who tell people different things all the time.

Oh, and good for you for refusing to live your life in fear. I always say I'd be the same way if I was a "single dyke hippy mama"! Oh wait, I do qualify for the hippy part!:LOL

[OakBerry]

Wow, I can't believe that! People have way too much time on their hands I think, to be meddling in other people's business like that. I mean, a naked TWO year old? Come on. My ds is almost 3 and he runs around naked all the time. I'd be totally pissed if anyone said anything to me about it, let alone called the cops!

[Alohamelly]

That's ridiculous. I don't think you were out of line. Some people are too uptight.