It's funny the corners you can back yourself into when trying to answer the simplest questions posed to you by an inquisitive child. For those of you whom are mothers I think you know what I'm talking about.
My eldest child has asked me on various occasions why I shave my legs and underarms. In the past she has always excepted the answer that "That's what most women do". Well she has gotten a little too smart for that lately and she will proceed with follow up questions which is where I find myself getting into trouble and not knowing what to say. She recently asked me the shaving question again but proceeded to comment, "You have hair on your arms and eyebrows why don't you shave those?" What am I suppose to say? If I say something like, "That's not want women do, they just shave their legs and underarms." Then she says, "But why?" "Well...... ummm that's just what they do to try and make themselves look a little nicer.(?)" She says, "You mean you do it because other women do it?" Uh-oh... I'm in trouble now. What have I got myself into? If I tell her "yes" then she will think it's o.k to follow what others do just because 'it's what everyone else is doing'. If I say "no" then she will know I'm lying because I didn't just come up with this shaving thing on my own, I do do it because that is what other women do. So.... where do I go from here? I try to explain that there are times when it's o.k to follow what other people do and sometimes it's not. Again, she follows up with, "So shaving your eyebrows would not be good, why?" Shoot, (this is me thinking), if I tell her it just would look funny then she will think that it's all about what other people think and we do things just so other people won't think bad about us or think we 'look funny'. If I tell her that other people are just not used to seeing others without eyebrows then she might come to the conclusion that we just want to do things to fit in. NO, NO, NO, that is not the lesson I want to teach. I want her to learn to have self respect, self worth, self pride (the good kind not the bad kind that Pres. Benson talks about), to understand that sometimes it's o.k being different especially when it comes to the church standards. Well, here I am in the corner trying to figure a way out and a thought comes to my mind. It's the best answer to any question! I say "Go ask your dad!"
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2 comments:
How about something like this:
Some things are social culture. If something isn't right or wrong, but it's just socially acceptable, it's ok to follow the crowd, if you want to. It's like giving valentines on valentines day, or taking treats to your school on your birthday, or wearing a wedding ring to show your married, or in some countries, burping after a meal to show you liked it.
In some countries women don't shave their legs or armpits. But hairy armpits sweat more than shaved ones, and it feels more girl-ish not to have hair there. Having smooth legs feels prettier to me too, like wearing lipstick. Another socially acceptable thing for women.
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by the way,
I tried to tell my older girls to postpone shaving their legs as long as they could bear it, becuase once you start, you're stuck!
Too funny, I like your lasyt option and now intend to use it every chance I get.
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