To my firstborn, my little girl

My Sweet Girl,
  I remember the feeling of getting past the baby and toddler stage and thinking..ahh, I have entered the easier stage of parenting.  Now I will get more sleep, I will have less tantrums to deal with, and we can go and do more.  In some ways this stage IS easier...but as I'm realizing, the hard stuff is hard in a completely different way.
  I wish I could keep you innocent forever.  I know that's not realistic and maybe not even healthy, but it seems like all over mamas are wanting their little girls to grow up too soon.  There are healthy ways of helping your kids "grow up", but then there are ways that are oh so sad to me.
  Take for instance, entering a store these days where you have now reached the "Girl" section instead of the little girl section.  You look at the clothes with wide eyes and sometimes even a shocked expression.  Me too.  When bathing suit shopping, you go right over to the two pieces and look at me with a questioning glance.  As if to say, "Would you really let me wear this?"  And you are attracted to those styles somewhat because they seem TRENDY and because they seem DARING.  I'm not sure when wearing something equivalent to underwear became trendy, but I have a feeling I know why.
  Little girls have role models in their mamas and the other women in their lives.  When a little girl sees a woman wearing very little and getting attention for it, something inside that young lady dies a little bit.  We whine and complain about how all the little girls clothes have gotten too revealing...but the reason why lies with the adults.  The truth is an adult woman has no business dressing for attention either.  But that isn't a very popular view in our world.
  I confess, my daughter, that I too have been intrigued by the latest styles and trends and sometimes throw modesty by the wayside.  I am going to tell you that sometimes I think...man I wish I could look that good in a bikini.  And sometimes I have even said that where you could hear it.  But the older you get and the more temptation you have to dress in a way that I believe is not pleasing to God, the more I realize that the way I dress and talk about clothes has to set the example I want you to have.
  Because the truth is...I can complain as much as I want about the world today and the role models young women have.  All those complaints have merit.  But what I can't ignore is that it starts with me.  I have to be the role model I want you to have.  And out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.  So even though I'm not in a hurry to put a bikini on these days and strut my stuff on the beach, I need to evaluate the reasons why.  And number one on that list for me needs to be modesty.  I want it to be number one on your list too.
  So nope, you can look right past that bikini and that cut off shirt.  Because I want to be daring in an unworldly way.
1 Timothy 2: 9
"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety..."

  I love you,
      Mom