christianparenting

“No! you’re not wearing high heels!” I firmly state (of course I didn’t shout at my child after the billionth argument about clothing that dayJ) to my four year old daughter as we are getting ready to go to church for our Wednesday night kids program. I couldn’t believe the words coming out my mouth. That’s been happening a lot lately. 

I still believe God tricked me with the birth order of my children. My oldest was easy from infancy. He slept a lot, slept through the night early and was a very content and happy baby boy. So I thought, let’s not let him be an only child and thus boy # 2 was born. Let me just tell you that boy #2 is all boy, did not sleep, and I really didn’t think we would survive the terrible or rather horrendous twos with that one. However, he is now a well adjusted, and polite 7 year old with a lot of energy. 

The second trick was in giving me boys first. I would look at a frustrated mother of a cute little girl as they walked into church complaining about fighting with their preschool daughter about clothes. In my mind I was thinking, what’s so hard, just tell her what she’s wearing and make her wear it. As a boy mom I was so naive. 

So back to my daughter who if I had first I might not have been eager for more. Girl’s tantrums and attitudes are very different, and how do they know to roll their eyes and put their hands on their hips at three? But what really troubles me is the clothing and beauty battles. I want my daughter to know that she is beautiful no matter what she wears or even what she looks like. 

Proverbs 31 :30 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
       but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” 

When we talk about pretty dresses and her pretty hair I also try and reinforce that she is beautiful because God made her and she is His child. We talk about her inside beauty. I will persistently reinforce this as the world tries to tell her that she needs to look a certain way or buy certain brands (yes my preschool daughter is already aware of brands, she has informed me that she wants sketchers like her friend at school.)

Hopefully, and with prayer,  she will realize true beauty and grow into a woman who fears the Lord.

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