Ack! My Eyes! My Eyes!

Alison has not yet developed an appreciation for the nude, especially male body, and of course I'm grateful for that. I'm not sure how she came to this antipathy. My friend Annmarie is anti-nudity, but I don't think Ali has spent so much time with Annie that it's rubbed off on her.

But from the time she's been able to express herself verbally, she's never enjoyed seeing anyone baring too much flesh, and she's never been quiet about it. She's especially affronted by seeing men without their shirts.

"Dude! Put a shirt on," she'll shout from the back seat as we drive by joggers or even as we bike past them on the Monon Trail.

Saturday, at the Indians game, she took off on a baby. "Did you see that?!" she gasped. "A shirtless baby! Sheesh!"

I started putting a few more clothes on several years ago when she started creeping into bed with us. It just seemed the right thing to do even though she's never once complained about seeing me in the flesh.

I think she's studying me as what might be coming down her pike. She's probably terrified. I keep reminding her that she won't be short and that she is blessed with her father's metabolism, so she probably won't have to worry about being overweight, either. She is keeping a sharp eye on her, um, other development -- some girls in her class are already wearing bras, and she's not looking forward to that.

Jeff, who appreciates snuggles from his daughter, and is just as unhappy about potential development as Alison is, has never felt pressured to cover up on the chance she'll creep into bed with us. He looks upon it as his turf, and he's not always as welcoming of the intrusion. She's usually on my side, though, and we've never had an incident where he couldn't snag his pjs when necessary.

Until Sunday morning. She jumped into bed, pulled back the covers and, I swear she said, "Ack! My eyes! My eyes!"

Jeff, thankfully, was on his side with his back to her, but she'd seen enough. "Geeze, man. Put some pants on! Mom. Dad is naked!" she informed me. Heck. She informed the world. She was outraged and her volume just increased.

It was hilarious. Well, I thought so. Jeff was not so amused. Alison certainly wasn't pleased at all.

He gave her some story about how he gets too hot and has to take off his clothes in the middle of the night. She actually nodded and accepted that story. She herself will often strip off her shirt and sleep in just her pj pants. She's also been known to strip entirely.

"Yeah, but just to see what it was like. And, it wasn't in public!" she said.

"My bed isn't public either," Jeff retorted.

"Yeah, well. Put on some pants, man!" she shouted back.

I don't have a photo of this occasion to share. My guess is you won't have a problem with that...