Am I wrong to find this incredibly awkward?

See, this is why there needs to be family changing rooms in ALL gyms! Gold's Gym in my area has one, I would think that more gyms out there would put them in being that parents these days seem more into bringing their kids to the gym with them, or going swimming, or doing a kids class, such as Tae Kwon Do. I think that if a gym offers such a class that they should also offer a family changing room.
I realize that Laura, your gym probably won't put one in being that it would cost thousands of dollars. But maybe they could post a sign saying that there will be kids in the locker room changing for Tae Kwon Do at certain hours? That way if women want to just extend their workout say, 10 min, or cut it short 10 min they've been informed.
Just a thought.
I know that I would have a hard time bringing my son into the womens locker room at age 5. Plus if someone elses little boy at around that age were in there I would be uncomfortable. But, I also understand that if there is no family changing room, what choice does she have? I do have to say though that my brother was in tkd as a child and he went to class in his uniform. There was no place for him to chage at the dojo.
So, maybe that's an alternative for this mother. Just bring the kids ready to go.

Kathy
 
That's what I'd hope, & that's what most of them did. Of a class of about 25, probably 20 of them showed up all ready to go. It was the 5 or so that converged on the locker room at the same time when I was half-nekkid that shook me up so much! :eek:
 
When I went to a gym many moons ago, (and it was an all female gym) if they had to bring thier young sons in the locker room, they would announce first that they were entering to allow any of the ladies a moment to cover up or take cover in a changing room.

I think if these ladies at your who gym want to bring their children in there they should make thier upcoming entrance known so others can be prepared. Also the management of the gym should enforce that. They need to come up with a solution to keep all of their members happy.

Jenn
 
We had this exact same debate at my gym and it was HOTLY debated just like here. The final decision was that the gyn would find a space for a family shower/changing room. However, the gym kept its "Women Only"/ "Men Only" locker room policy.

The very best line of the debate was delivered by a member when a parent argued that her 7 year old son did not notice naked women and should be allowed in to change. The member said, "Well, then I guess I can start bringing my husband because everytime I point out a naked women on TV or at the movies he guarantees me he didn't notice."



KIM ;-)
 
Laura--maybe you could find out if other women find this situation awkward and you could approach the management together. Strength in numbers?

I'm sure you are not alone.

Maggie:)
 
How many moms here would change in front of their sons age 5-6 or walk around naked in front of them? When you walk into a dressing room, there's no telling who doesn't have any clothes on. I'm sorry but this is just plain wrong. If I were undressed and boys this age walked in on me I would be telling the parent to make them leave. If you can't get them ready at home then figure something else out. Maybe find a gym or whatever that has a family changing room.
 
How many moms here would change in front of their sons age 5-6 or walk around naked in front of them? When you walk into a dressing room, there's no telling who doesn't have any clothes on. I'm sorry but this is just plain wrong. If I were undressed and boys this age walked in on me I would be telling the parent to make them leave. If you can't get them ready at home then figure something else out. Maybe find a gym or whatever that has a family changing room.
 
Call me a freak of nature, but I never have used the locker rooms. I always drove home and then showered. Something unnerves me about showering, changing, grooming, etc., in a public place. I cannot help but wonder when the last time the counter was cleaned, the floor...EWWW. Just the thought gives me the willies. I am definitely not a prude. In the Navy we had common shower areas and the whole nine yards. You lose shyness when 30 or more other women are showering, etc., at the same time. Difference being...we cleaned the showers too. You could lick the floors! :)

I guess if it were up to me though, I would change gyms if the locker room situation were important to me and the gym management ignored me.

Lately I have been choosing the hill I wish to die on. Do you have another gym nearby? Good luck!
 
Oh I don't shower there......EW! Best way to get athlete's foot & who knows what else.........but I do change into my gym clothes there after work. More of a time issue than anything--don't want to take the extra 15-20 minutes to stop home, then I'll get all wrapped up in playing w/the dog, then I'll end up not going at all........

That said, for the record, one of the reasons this place costs so much is their maintenance. You probably could lick the floor. They are CONSTANTLY cleaning EVERYTHING. If there were ever a gym where I'd use the shower & sauna, this would be it.
 
LauraMax,

As a mom of a 7 year old boy, I can assure you that the 4 & 5 year olds don't give a rip about what they saw. My 7 year old still doesn't blink an eye seeing me naked, since he's been seeing it all of his life. It's simply a non-event, because we haven't MADE it into an event worthy of note.

Now, the fact that you felt weird about it is another thing. Our Y recently put in 2 seperate locker rooms for this very reason, and even took it a step farther, as apparently the old ladies didn't like being naked in front of young GIRLS even. Which I find completely bizarre, but, whatever. So we have 3 flavors of locker rooms: Women only (NO ONE under the age of 18 allowed), Girls (girls under 18 and their parents/female guardians, and Family (single changing rooms where a mixed sex family can go). If your gym doesn't have the space for this, what else are they going to do? I wouldn't leave my 4 year old to go into the locker room alone, no WAY. And I wouldn't leave them in the hall to wait for me while I changed in the women's room, if they were changed themselves. I'm still freaked out letting my 7 year old go to the bathroom by himself, and essentially stand guard at the outside of the door, making sure I don't hear anything going on in there!

So..... what can you do? Not much, other than just chill. Seriously, who cares? Even if they ARE checking you out (which again, they are NOT)? What's the big deal? If everyone would just chill out about being naked, this wouldn't be ANY big deal.
 
>If Diane Sue was in that situation, I would go to the Spa and
>make sure they stopped that from happening again. What are
>those women thinking??? A parent like that explains why the
>schools are having problems in the elementary schools with
>sexual misconduct....

Oh, good grief. I think it's attitudes like THIS that more adequately explain what's going on in schools. Parents are so freaking uptight about these topics, they don't talk to their kids about anything anymore. And being worried about no longer changing in front of a 2 year old (other poster's comment)? Seriously????? It's SKIN for cripes sake!!!!!!! And yes, I have children, two, a boy and a girl. And they think nothing of being naked, nor of seeing someone naked. It's just NOT a big deal. Making it a big secret/taboo is MAKING it a big deal!
 
>How many moms here would change in front of their sons age
>5-6 or walk around naked in front of them? When you walk into
>a dressing room, there's no telling who doesn't have any
>clothes on. I'm sorry but this is just plain wrong. If I were
>undressed and boys this age walked in on me I would be telling
>the parent to make them leave. If you can't get them ready at
>home then figure something else out. Maybe find a gym or
>whatever that has a family changing room.

All the time, every day (he's 7.5, and my daughter is 4.5 - seeing us naked is a usual part of the day, really.). I'm truly shocked that so many people are so uptight about this. Seriously, shocked. I find it totally bizarre, honestly!
 
Well, that might be a little easier for you to say than me, since like I mentioned, I have very limited exposure to children. Jeez, their presence alone makes me nervous, but their presence when I'm nekkid makes me REALLY nervous!

So while it might not be a big deal to you, it most definitely is to me. It bothers me, I do care, & since I'm paying over $100 a month to use this place I think I should feel comfortable.

And I'm just not convinced they're not looking, even if only out of curiosity. Again not an expert, but I'm pretty sure children who are 4-5 YO are very curious. I know my mother had the (unsolicited) birds & bees talk w/me when I was in kindergarten. I didn't know WTH she was talking about, but then, thanks to TV & other media outlets kids today are much more advanced than I was.
 
>If everyone would just chill out about being naked, this wouldn't be ANY big deal.

LMAO! I think we are all going to have to agree to disagree on this one. It's a personal issue whether you are or are not comfortable being seen naked by a 7 year old boy (now there's a sentence I never thought I would write). Personally, if my father walked around the house naked when I was 7 years old, I would still be in therapy now! And good gracious I can't imagine any of my sisters walking around naked in front of their 7 year old boys - does that make them uptight prudes who need to chill out? Not in my book, they're just teaching their kids modesty. And for those who don't think 7 year old boys check out girls, allow me to introduce you to a few of my nephews! ;) Although, I'm sure my sister's think they are still little angels too. The whole point here is that there are people who are not going to be comfortable with little boys gaping at them naked or in some process of undress in the locker room. Everyone needs to be considerate of each other and find some middle ground. I thought the one woman's suggestion of at least letting those in the locker room know you are about to bring in a boy was good. Gives everyone a chance to "cover up" if they so choose. I would just go change in the bathroom if I saw a little boy come in with his mom. I'd like a warning though! I'd hate to pass the little guy in the gym some other day and have him announce to his mom, "hey mom, that's the naked lady with the big boobs and the hot pink underware!" :p I think Laura will handle this well if it continues to be a problem and will be able to come to some sort of compromise with the mothers so that everyone is happy. :)
 
Oh, I do sympathize with feeling uncomfortable. But that's such a squishy thing, you know? I mean, seriously, our Y had to make *5* different flavors of locker rooms to make everyone "comfortable:" Women/Girls/Men/Boys/Family - that seems ridiculous to me.

Heck, even *I* sometimes feel uncomfortable changing with women who will stand around completely naked for what feels like HOURS, just chatting up everyone around them, and I'm about as laid back about these things as they come - but really, there is no need to just stand around naked while chatting - get dressed! :) It's hard to make everyone happy, especially when we are talking about something like "comfort." It's different for everyone.
 
>And for those who don't think 7 year old
>boys check out girls, allow me to introduce you to a few of my
>nephews! ;)

Well, perhaps if their mothers weren't so modest around them, they wouldn't be so interested, as it wouldn't be a big deal.... ;)

Seriously, kidding, totally kidding!
 
Lol!

When I was 7, I wanted to marry Patrick Swayzee and would have paid my week's allowance to see him in the buff! Bet my mom would have told you that I had absolutely no interest in boys! }(
 
I understand Laura, I think if you pay that much money, you should be able to feel comfortable. I do think you should talk to management, if they offer classes for kids (AND charging for them), they will need to make accomodations, so everyone is taken care of.

I do understand that some women have a problem or feel uncomfortable with a 5+-year old boy in the locker room. However, as a Mom, I am absolutely uncomfortable with changing my kids in my car (no, I don't have a Minivan :) ) and more importantly, my kids are uncomfortable with that. Try and change a kid in the car at 120 degrees outside and people running around in the parking lot, starring at you. And in all reality, I am paying the same $ 100 per month, I have as much of a right to be comfortable than people without kids - does that make sense?

We also had incidents where women were complaining about female children in the locker room because they wouldn't be able to "relax" with kids around. No matter what you do, people will always complain - I am not talking about you, I think you are a reasonable person and if you feel uncomfortable, you'll have to address it, it's not going to magically resolve itself.

I really have to second what mspina said, as a mother of two boys I can assure you that they don't even blink about anyone naked, and they are 7 and 11 now - not that this is a daily occurance and the 11-year-old may be a little bit of a stretch :). However, at 4 or 5 they really don't have a concept of anything sexual. Period! I think we are projecting our own thought process on to kids.
It maybe that I don't hide from my kids, meaning, I don't take my clothes off in front of them, but if they come into the bathroom while I take a bath or a shower, I won't be ducking and diving for my bathrobe either. Therefore, I think seeing someone naked is really a non-event for them.

Now, I grew up in Europe, specifically in a town where "nude bathing" was a daily occurance in our biggest city park. Seeing a breast on TV will only trigger a yawn for most kids over there, it basically is a "non-event" there, I think that's why kids in Europe are less interested or don't see it as something extraordinary.
I don't think that makes Europeans (or me, for that matter) horrible or imoral people. I have to admit, I cannot follow sometimes the big deal about nudity. As far as I am concerned, I find it much more troubleing if young kids watch violent movies, play violent games and run around with a play-gun, pretending to shot someone. But that is much more accepted by society.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion about what's best for their kids and I am not trying to change any minds here, but it kind of bothers me that the parents of those kids at your gym are being painted as irresponsible and the general consensus seems to be that those mothers are being inconsiderate.
They may not be all that happy either that they have to change their kids in the women's locker room, but don't see another choice. Maybe you can talk to them about addressing the management for a "family locker room" or a seperate area, they may turn out to be your allies. Just a thought!

Carola
 
>Lol!
>
>When I was 7, I wanted to marry Patrick Swayzee and would have
>paid my week's allowance to see him in the buff! Bet my mom
>would have told you that I had absolutely no interest in boys!
>}(

Wow, then you were really early for your age! I didn't get interested in boys in the buff until I was 15 or 16.

But then again, growing up in Europe, we see nekkid people all around, so you just roll your eyes, NOOOOO, no nekkid people, PLEEEEEEAAAASSSSEE, let me see something exciting and fun }(

Patrick Swayzee, really????? :+
 
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