Page 195 - The Intentional Parent

There is nothing inherently wrong with taking a shower with your toddler-aged daughter or walking around naked. Being naked doesn't always have a sexual connotation, and some people feel more comfortable with their nakedness than others. Parents should not shower with their kids once the children have reached a certain age, and that age varies from child to child and situation to situation. If you see your child looking uncomfortable, ashamed, or embarrassed, or if your child protests about taking a shower with you, then it is time to stop.
INTEREST IN PORN
I was picking up my ten-year-old's books the other day and came across a set of pictures and diagrams he drew of naked people and of people having sex. He had also written some crude words and phrases on other pages of his notebook. What does this mean?
It means that your child is coming into contact with some of the cruder characterizations of sex and with sexual terms that are heard in the playground and on the street. Oftentimes, a child's understanding of these terms and phrases is limited, but because he's heard them and knows they have something to do with sex, they have importance. Boys his age and even younger become keenly interested in the vocabulary of sex and have decreed that talking tough and using adult sexual imagery and vocabulary makes them cool. Actually, many men never make it past that stage!
I prefer to handle such situations as an issue of etiquette rather than sexuality or gender politics. You may communicate to the child that off-color language and sexual comments are best left to private conversations with like-minded people, preferably
The Intentional Parent by Peter J. Favaro, Ph.D. 195