Dad has bold response to nurse and ex-wife who weren't giving his 9-yr-old son privacy to dress up in hospital room
Everyone is entitled to some privacy. It doesn't matter if you are an adult or a child. However, some people struggle to understand boundaries and violate them without much care. A dad on the Reddit community who goes by u/Traditional-Put6216 shared how his 9-year-old son was not getting privacy in his hospital room and how he stood up for his son. The dad wondered if he was wrong for telling a group of women to leave his son's hospital room to let him dress up in private. His son Loren was admitted to the hospital to get his appendix removed.
The 9-year-old had a basic understanding of the surgery but he was not too comfortable with wearing nothing but the hospital gown during his stay there. He was not allowed to keep his socks or underwear on. "When we got to the hospital room to get him prepped, he told his mom (my ex) and her sister to turn or to leave when he had to undress. He was fine with me being there and needed help," the dad wrote in his post. "After the surgery, me, my ex, her sister, her 13-year-old niece and my 18-year-old son were in the recovery room. He was waiting for Loren to sober up and get discharged."
When Loren started coming to his senses, he whispered to his dad that he wanted to put his clothes on because he wasn't comfortable wearing nothing but a hospital gown in front of three girls. A female nurse also entered the recovery room at that point and started taking Loren's vitals. The dad requested his ex and the nurse to step aside for a bit so he could help Loren get dressed. "They looked bewildered at my request. The nurse then said she'd help me dress him because my son was still a bit weak. I said, 'No thanks. My teen son will help out. My son doesn't feel comfortable getting dressed in front of four females,'" the dad further mentioned.
The nurse insisted on staying there but the dad sided with his son and prioritized his privacy. "They left us as my other son got him dressed. My ex called me and said that I owe her and everyone else an apology. I refused. I said if the roles were reversed then you'd have a very different opinion. Also, Loren has to take a bath for the next few days and she was crazy if she was expecting Loren to let her wash him or even be in the bathroom with him. It's different with me or his brother or friends and I don't have to convince her for me to be right," the father continued.
He made an edit to the original post and clarified that Loren's gown was made of paper and he basically felt naked. The dad initially did not think about calling a male nurse as the female nurse mentioned they were short-staffed. "I did have to take him back to the hospital this morning because he couldn't pee but had to. At the hospital, I asked if a nurse was going to see my son before or after his male doctor and they said yes," the update on the post read. Eventually, they found a male nurse and Loren was relaxed around him. "The male nurse said a lot of female nurses take it personally when patients ask for a male nurse and it's always been that way," the post concluded.
The comment section spoke in favor of the young boy and assured the dad that he did the right thing. u/Morallta commented, "This wasn't an issue until the nurse decided to make it one and frankly, it's a little weird that four people old enough to know better were so aghast that you didn't want them to see your son nude." u/Shandrith added, "You are 100% right that your son is the only one who gets to decide what he is comfortable with. He is at an age where privacy is just starting to become important to him. Understandably, he wouldn't want any female assistance getting dressed, even that of his own mother. You are also right that if you had a 9-year-old daughter who wanted the guys to leave the room no one would question it."