Modest Maddie

It's a new year and I need to make WAY more of an effort to blog/journal. Not just so all of you can get a kick out of all the things that happen in our day to day, but so that I can have these memories jotted down so I don't forget them! Everyday there is something interesting, crazy, funny, sweet or sad that happens in this household. I love being with my kids most days, then we have some days where I wish I was on an island FAR, FAR Away from EVERYONE, including the goldfish (YES, we have a goldfish)!

Anyway, today I'm jotting down a sweet memory of our little Maddie. Madison is a good girl, responsible and motherly. She loves to please her parents and make good choices. She doesn't always, but... so goes life! Anyway, we had her cousin over during New Year's and it was almost time for her to go. Maddie had a piece of fleece fabric that she plays with. She uses it for a blanket, large scarf, etc. Well this day she wanted it as a skirt. She asked me if I could tie it for her but her cousin offered to do it instead. Maddie was hesitant, but let her do it. Maddie runs to me, bawling her eyes out and I ask her with concern,"What's the matter?" she then tells me, "It's not modest...BAHAHAHAHAHA (more crying)!" The skirt had been made rather short, with it raising higher up on her thigh. Her cousin looks at me and says, "What does modest mean?" I explained to her that modesty means not showing lots of skin or body parts, etc.

Even though Maddie was very sad, I felt proud that she felt uncomfortable with how the skirt was tied on. It's the simple things that we teach our children that make ALL the difference. Our examples to our children are THE most important thing we can do as parents. We not only have to TEACH or children Christ-like principles but we need to LIVE them. For me, modesty is a simple yet HUGE principle we can teach our young girls, and it starts NOW when they are young... for me it starts when they're babies. No bikini bathing suits on infants (even though they look adorable), no tank tops or dresses without sleeves, and nothing that is revealing in any kind of way. Young girls should dress like young girls, not like adults, and adults should be careful with how they dress so that young girls can look towards beautiful woman who wear classy clothing WITHOUT showing off ALL of their assets!

I'm not a perfect parent AT ALL. There are MANY things I need to polish and work on. I heard a great quote the other day, "Inch by inch, it's a cinch, yard by hard, then it's hard". I think I'll use that as my parenting motto. This way I won't get bogged down with all of the things I feel I need to improve, rather, work on one thing at a time THEN move to the next thing...like blogging!;D