It’s summertime. Take a glance at the internet and you’ll see all kinds of encouragement promoting body positivity, telling moms to show that they love their bodies by wearing bikinis. Yes, mama! Definitely love your body. It carried and gave birth to a child (or to multiple children!). It’s strong, and it runs after those children while they grow. I wrote a whole article on loving your “mom bod,” and I do love mine.

But I won’t wear a bikini. Here’s why:

At least one child will definitely tug on my swimsuit, revealing my private parts to the entire beach or pool area.

I am not in a period of my life where I lay around on a beach chair, reading a book and working on my tan. Rather, I have three small children who love to pretend to be monkeys, using me as their tree. This is the most fun for them in the water! We play sharks, I throw them around, we practice floating and swimming. With tiny hands constantly grabbing and clawing at me, it doesn’t take long before small fingers get hooked in my bikini top or bottom, pulling it up, down, or sideways. I have learned the hard way, without fail, that my swimsuit will become dislodged by a small person at play.

Wearing a one-piece bathing suit gives me more sun protection and saves time applying sunscreen.

Putting sunscreen on my kids is like engaging in a wrestling match or cage fight. They run, I chase. They wiggle, and inevitably sunscreen winds up in their hair, on their bathing suits, on the furniture — pretty much everywhere except on their exposed skin! And that’s if we sunscreen at home. If I try to do it when we get to the pool or beach, my kids are jumping in the water before I’ve even kicked off my flip-flops. No time for mom to sunscreen herself! So not only do I wear a one-piece, I also rock a swim shirt! Yes! It’s not about fashion at the moment, it’s about function.

Will I ever wear a bikini again?

Sure, someday. When I hit that time in my life where I bring my kids to the pool and they tell me not to walk in with them, or sit with them, or acknowledge them in any way. And I’ll miss that functional one-piece bathing suit and the little girls who couldn’t swim without their mama.