Jayah's Example

Jayah and I went to my bridal shower yesterday and I promised Jayah that if she was good, she could pick what we did after the shower. Well, she was good, so she got to pick, and she picked... shopping.

She's four, and she picked shopping. Specifically for makeup and nail polish and "hot heels". We are in for some interesting teenage years.

So we went to Old Navy to shop. I'm a bargain shopper, I almost never even look at anything besides the sale racks. So I found this cute little pink romper for $7.00, and some cute matching flip flops for $1.00 that I was so excited about. So I bought them. Next, Jayah just HAD to go to the mall. So we drove down the block to the mall. I was so excited about the outfit that I wanted to change her into it before we went into the mall. You can tell by the look on her face in the picture below just how much she loved it. But it's the reason that she "loved" it that surprised me.

I put it on her and was gushing about how cute she was in it and how her daddy was going to love it, and she started crying! I was so surprised because she loves wearing pink, and she is usually the easiest little girl, but she was crying! I asked her what was wrong, and her response was "I don't want to wear something without sleeves."

Holy moly, did I feel like a terrible parent. My little four year old was being the example to ME.

Modesty was never an issue to me because my mom pretty much never gave me any other option. I had a really good group of friends with the same standards as me growing up, and it was just never a question that I was going to be modest. After high school I went to the temple very quickly and have been wearing my "g's" since, so it has never really been an option since either.

Now I've been put in this unique situation where I buy a child clothing on a regular basis. I've been buying her clothing for close to a year and a half, but this specific situation has never come up. Ironically, the lesson in primary last week was on modesty. And Jayah wasn't even with us last Sunday!

Needless to say, I am truly impressed, and so proud of Miss Jayah for knowing the difference between modest and immodest, and being strong enough to tell me so. I hope that she will always remember that feeling, and strive her whole life to continue to be an example to others.