This past weekend my sisters and I gathered together for my grandfather’s memorial service (I masked literally the whole time... another rant for another day) anyways... two of my sisters and I shared a large Airbnb for the weekend and we all loved seeing one another’s children ❤️ However, there was a moment where my one sister (we have a rocky history) was playing with my daughter and tickling her. I saw she was tickling her inner thighs, close to my daughter’s vagina, and I simply said “hey can we tickle her stomach or neck instead? We don’t tickle her thighs”

WELL. did that cause a ruckus 🙄 I know with absolute certainty I can trust my sister to be respectful and safe with my daughter’s body. But I also don’t want to normalize touching/tickling her inner thighs or near her genitalia. My reasoning is, while we would consider it completely innocent, I never want her to feel that if someone else (yes, even a family member) is touching her inappropriately, and calling it “just tickling” or something like that, she will not know to tell us something bad happened because it has been normalized by other family members.

Now, I will note that I was totally casual about my reaction. But my sister was not. She got so upset and said “well fine I’m just never touching her again!” Then later on she chastised me and said that I should allow it and when she’s older, differentiate between tickling and inappropriate touching. I asserted that this was just a decision I was most comfortable with and the way I wanted to handle it.

Am I totally overreacting or is she just pushing and not being respectful of the boundaries we have set? I was so shocked to see her react to negatively to that request! But I’m also willing to accept if I am the one who is being overly protective.