Don’t Knock Gwyneth Paltrow For Bathing With Her School-Aged Kids

gwyneth paltrow bath with kidsPeople love to hate Gwyneth Paltrow. What with her cleanses and goop-dom and unsolicited pregnancy advice. I am neither here nor there. I mean, she seems annoying and all but I’d take her any day over, say, Renee Zellweger (loathe her!) or Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy whose real name I can’t even be bothered to look up. (Okay, fine, I just did it’s Ellen Pompeo.)

Anyway, Gwynnie appears on the March 2012 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, and people are already vomiting over the accompanying interview, in which she dishes on everything from creating a happy home life to Botox. One thing Gwyneth mentions, somewhat in passing, is that she bathes with her children, 7-year-old Apple and 5-year-old Moses.

“We all get into the tub together,” she tells the mag.

While certain parts of the interview surprised me like the fact that she acts a bit like a 1950s housewife and thinks that we should, too I don’t find this whole bathing-with-kids thing even remotely controversial. And I’m surprised that many people do, as evidenced in the comments section of a slew of of websites. These haters think it’s inappropriate that she’d hop into the tub with her school-aged children. They call it creepy and wrong.

Um, excuse me, but when did nudity become such a big deal? These are her children we’re talking about! And most experts would agree that private parts only need be private one the kids hit puberty. (Others, like Dr. Sears, thinks it should happen in kindergarten.) But I think most would agree that we should be following our kids’ lead and doing what feels right to us. I don’t think there’s a definitive answer when it comes to nudity, and I think anyone bashing Gwyneth for her family bath routine should get over it. (Never thought I’d be defending Gwyneth Paltrow, but here I am.)

What do you think? At what age did you stop bathing/showering with your kids and was it a conscious decision or just something that happened naturally?

(Photo: harpersbazaar.com)

 

 

Similar Posts