Modest is Hottest!

I've been meaning to write about this a long time ago but just keep on forgetting. A while back when Rosie was 2 or 3 years old, she had a dress that was sleeveless. I bought her a cute sweater to go over it so that she could be modest, yes, even at the age of 2. At first, Rosie wanted to take the sweater off. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle to get her to wear it. After explaining to her that it is important to dress modestly to show respect for our bodies, respect for those around us, and most importantly to show respect for God, she's never fought me when it comes to modesty. As a matter of fact, she's obsessed with modesty now. Here's a few examples...

Sometimes she'll wander into the bathroom while Dave or I are in the shower. We'll poke our head out from the curtain to see who the intruder is. The second Rosie gets a glimpse of a bare shoulder she exclaims "Hey, you're not modest!"

Whenever baby Michael is in just a diaper, weather it be because he's about to eat a messy meal, or if he's about to be changed into something new, Rosie will always point out how immodest he is.

One day we were at the YMCA and a girl was wearing a tube top sun dress. Rosie ran over to me and said "Mommy she doesn't have sleeves on her dress!"

She has also taken her Barbies and put Ken's suit jacket over their outfits to make them more modest.

When we were shopping for her aunts wedding gown, Rosie got very upset and let everyone know that she did NOT like the strapless dress. When April put on a dress with sleeves, Rosie started to jump up and down and say "I love it! It's so modest!"

My favorite example of how much Rosie loves modestly is when she was coloring a picture of the Princess and the Frog. If you've seen that movie, or just seen posters or toys, you'd know that the princess is in a strapless dress. Rosie decided to fix it. She took her crayons and drew sleeves on the dress! What a cleaver girl!!

I've explained to her that sometimes people don't dress modestly because they don't know about Heavenly Father and they don't know that it is important to be modest. Some people don't go to church and learn about modesty and maybe their parents haven't talked about modesty to them. The other reason is, some people don't care. However, Heavenly Father cares and is sad when we don't respect our bodies and treat our bodies like temples. We've also discussed with her that there are other things to worry about besides just modesty. We need to be kind to others, use good manners, and share, among other things.

I'm so very glad that I taught her the principle of modesty at such a young age and ever more thankful that she understands. I often see parents dressing their kids in all kinds of immodest clothing because they think it doesn't matter when they are young and that it's cute. I'v never had that philosophy. When are they suddenly old enough to have to dress modestly? When they hit puberty? When they're 18? When they're about to be sealed in the temple? How do you suddenly shift their focus to modesty? I believe that we should dress modestly ALWAYS.

Hopefully Rosie will always understand the importance of modesty and, as she gets older, she'll understand even more why. She'll learn that it helps others around us have clean thoughts. She'll learn that they way we dress can dictate how we behave. If we're in pjs we'll want to lounge around or sleep. If we're in a soccer outfit we might feel like running around. If we're in formal attire, we're more apt to sit proper and act proper. If we're in a sexy outfit we'll more likely draw the wrong kind of attention, plus we're more likely to act sexy and flirtatious, which leads to immorality and other sin. I want her to understand her infinite worth in God's eyes and in our eyes. I want her to understand that Heavenly Father loves her so much and that she doesn't need to conform to the world's standard or dress. She needs to seek first the approval of God as he knows what will make us the happiest. I pray that her friends will be good influences on her and that she in turn, will be good influences on them. I want her to always know she is a daughter of God and that modest truly is hottest!

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth