it’s totally ridiculous. i spoke with one of the mothers of the accused “naked babies”, the cops were actually phoned by someone complaining about it. and i also know that the officer took the names of the mothers. that part weirds me out a bit. it seems to me that the officer would show up and say something like “hahha, well, since someone called in i had to come out and see about the complaint, but it’s no big deal. have a nice day…” but that’s not how it went. he actually took their names…so does what exactly does that mean?

i know of two other instances in this town where kids have been naked in their own front yards and the police have arrived because of a complaint. one parent was actually told to “put some clothes on that kid..”

it’s freakin’ absurd!

one other thought is that lately i can’t help but really be super aware of how much society separates itself from the natural world. like you mentioned breastfeeding, so many think that it is offensive or gross…it’s so odd. our whole society is set up to isolate itself from such simple natural elements that are so beneficial. now there are whole advocacy groups to encourage people to breastfeed.

I’m very surprised that you & your wife were in the minority in wanting to breastfeed your child. I thought pretty much all of the pediatricians and hospitals in the U.S. have come to recognize the benefits of breastfeeding and recommend it for at least the first year of life (according to the American Academy of Pediatrics). That’s what we were told at our hospital in Boston when we had our daughter — and that was the experience of all other new parents we met.

There MUST be some sort of naked baby ordinance in the City of Fairfield… I’ve never heard of this happening anywhere else!

Wow! Absurdly shocking, isn’t it? Thanks for this info; I wasn’t aware that it was this bad in such recent times! Hopefully things will change — all sorts of medical studies prove the benefits of breastfeeding beyond just the first year of life.

I wonder if the cop’s reaction is motovated solely by the phone complaint or somewhat influenced by the number of registered sex offenders living in town? Sadly we have a bunch. Either way, it’s a sad situation.

Maybe is the weightloss benefits of breastfeeding were hyped more, more moms would breastfeed? I’d play the vanity card if it meant more children had the gazillion benefits of breast feeding.

I recall a neighbor mentioning something to me a few years ago when Elias was running around naked in our sprinkler. He was 2 or 3 at the time. She said something like, “I noticed a naked little boy running around your front yard the other day!” and although she laughed I could tell she wasn’t amused. It’s strange how uptight people are even in liberal Seattle.

Of course, as Holly mentioned above, there are a lot of perverts out there. I actually had to tag the naked buns photos I had (including the one of Elias in the sprinkler) on Flickr as “private” after I noticed that they’d had an unusually large number of views. Either people thought my kids were really cute or some pervert was…ah, ….I don’t even want to think about it.

haha, Will, I hope not! Although I had to go to court several years ago in defense of 2 of my Girl Scouts (age 10) who had a man expose himself to them while they were waiting for a noon-ride home to lunch, by the school. Guy got off - local politics, but he was 100% guilty. Sometimes it “feels” like our restauarant and sex offenfer ratio matches….sigh.

I saw Dawn’s letter to the editor in the Fairfield Ledger - good job! Too bad its message will be overlooked amidst the hub-bub with the Vedic-City-vs.-Century-Farm-building-a-CAFO debacle. Man, that was one contentious double page spread! I have some strong opinions about that mess, but, once again, I shall refrain.

Fairfield Ledger - local newspaper. The editorial page is on Thursdays - always entertaining, always! I highly recommend subscribing to the Fairfield Ledger to gain a more in depth understanding of Fairfield. It’s a sociologists delight.

No, the guy was prosecuted and found not guilty (by reason of influence from a strong jury leader who was a friend of the defendant but didn’t disclose that during jury selection - got away with it.)

Holly, any chance you’d tell me the perpetrator’s name?

It’s been nice getting all the positive feedback from the letter to the editor.

It really creeps me out and makes me MAD that we are essentially going after the children and the perp’s are going without consequences. Could this be more blaming the victim? Gesh.

Attention mothers and children: There are perpetrators out there. Be afraid. Dress accordingly. Remember to always worry about what others may be thinking. Be afraid. Be very very afraid.

And while we are at it… WOMEN: remember even though it’s 90 degrees out there be careful about what YOU wear. You wouldn’t want to be taken for a “slut” now would you????

I’ll tell you - if the police come to MY house and tell me to cloth my daughter.. they are going to have to arrest me.

Dawn, the guy moved away - thank God! I’m not sure I can remember his name, but I can always ask the parents of my 2 Girl Scouts….they’ll likely never forget. Lousy way for those girls to be introduced to the U.S. justice system, “But Mom, why did he get away?? He did it. Why is he free??”