I just drew the blinds. It has gotten too dark outside and too late in the day to pretend that no one will look in my home office window and see me . . . breastfeeding.

My brightly lit, downtown, second story window is like a beacon at this hour, perhaps especially since every member of the household is in this one room busily moving around. My one-year-old nursling climbs all over me. The discreet nursing days are behind us.

I have good reason to worry that a passerby, or even one of the neighbors, might report me to the police for indecent exposure.  It happened to me once before. How embarrassing! I can tell you.

Although breastfeeding is not indecent, at least not by my values or by law, people can still make the complaint and the police will come to check out the situation.

Strangely enough, it's typically women who complain. That's what I hear around the secret breastfeeding community. I suspect that it's the guilty women who complain. We all know that "Breast is best" and all that, so the very act of breastfeeding can trigger defensiveness in women who didn't choose the best for their babies. It's as if I'm saying as much just by breastfeeding.

In addition to the indiscreet breastfeeding, my kids and I sometimes move about our home without our clothing. The kids are just comfort-loving creatures. For my part, I'm often too busy to cover up right away after one of my little darlings has spilled something on me and I've discarded the wet garment, or I've just gotten out of the shower, or whatever other reason.

I don't worry so much about the neighbors seeing the nude children inside the home (although we did get a complaint when they were enjoying some skinny dipping in the pool outside). I worry about my neglect to close the blinds when I might be exposed. This neglect carries the threat of serious consequences to my family.

I recently read about a man who is having all manner of trouble in his community and with the police, because a passerby (mother and child) spotted him fixing coffee in the nude.

(I thought, That could totally happen to me! But then, I do have being a female on my side.)

My daughter and I, likewise, saw a man through his dining room window having breakfast cereal in the nude. It never crossed my mind to feel offense or to report him to the police. Sheesh! He was eating cereal. Even if he had dressed, my daughter and I could have guessed that he had a body. Instead, it sort of endeared me to this neighbor for his unconventional (non-puritan) behavior and apparent comfort with his body.

I'm no exhibitionist. I just want to feel at home in my home. I prefer to have the blinds open.