Swimwear and Modesty

 
"Modesty: As Summer is fast approaching it will be swimsuit season. Modest swimwear takes a little more creativity, but you can find modest options. I don't want to teach my children to flaunt everything. God made them beautiful without putting it ALL on display. Protect their innocence! I will be happy to share any resources I know of for modest swimwear options. Everything you see in these pics is from Wal-Mart (Caden), Academy (Sierra's cool hot pink zebra print skirt set), Target (Sienna & Sahara). I can also tell you that what you might think is "odd" might not seem "odd" at all to your child. We had concerns, but my kids were very happy to have suits that don't show everything and make them feel like they are wearing their underwear in public."  --Me posting via Facebook

First of all, I want to say.... and I have probably said this a few times before.... that everyone has a different view of what defines modesty.  Also, I tell my girls and my son that I want to show them that there is a different way than the half naked swimsuits that are all around us.  I have damage to my heart and mind from my own immodest journey.  I would like to save them from that, but ultimately there will come a day when all the choices are theirs to make.  To me I also think is so important to provide them with something they can like and not just something you can make them wear.  If you dress them in something they do not like or are embarrassed to wear, you are going to have a harder time with this.

Secondly, you have to teach your children the "Why?" behind teaching them modesty.

• Why is this important to you?  You may have to talk about your past or why this is a conviction for you. 
• Why is this important in our society?  You may have to talk to them about the issues in our society.
• Why it should be important to them?  They will need to glorify God in their swimwear choices.
• And many more... the point here is to be willing to discuss this.

The last point I am going to make is that you might not find your "swimsuit" in the the swimwear department.  It might be in the sportswear or you might have to search out the pieces separately.  For Caden I found his in the swimwear department as a set that included the Rash Guard (that is the shirt top) and the swim trunks.  The ones my littler girls were wearing were in the sportswear section intended to be worn for running track or some other sport, but they are perfect because they have a built in fitted panty under the shorts.  Even if someone is able to see up their leg their is still a swimsuit like bottom under there.  Those pieces were sold individually so you could mix and match with other items they coordinated with.  The suit my older daughter, Sierra, in this pic is wearing was sold the same way and you could choose the skirt which has a biker short type bottom built into it or you could choose a bikini bottom.  I will say that my oldest daughter does not like the feel of this as much as others but she has one that is purple and black zebra that she has worn for two Summers now.  I also have a modest swimsuit that I bought last year.  I had to roam around a bit to find mine, but surprisingly I found all the pieces at Wal-Mart.  I was able to find a black, white, and hot pink Rash Guard with zebra print accents in the swim section.  I think there was a matching skirt, but they were sold out of the size or it was super short (I don't really remember).  I tried several things.  I bought a black lycra tennis skirt from the sportswear department and that is what I ended up using.  I also tried black lycra capri length legging and I liked that look but they were sliding around too much which was because I bought the wrong size.  To go with the leggings I had purchased a short zebra skirt that worked with it.  All of those pieces were in the sportswear sections.  Be open to searching out pieces and think out of the box.  

UPDATE:  I left out soooo much without thinking about it.  I was reminded of some things when I read this article from The Pennington Point.  http://thepenningtonpoint.com/2013/05/embracing-modesty-no-19-swimsuit-edition/  

There were a lot of points that are in my "head", but I did not type.  Like, when I was pregnant I bought a maternity dress at Motherhood that was all lycra and knee length and I wore a swimsuit panty under it.  I had really bought it with water birthing in mind, but it became my swimsuit, as well, for the next two years.  Lycra dresses are a great swimsuit option paired with biker shorts or leggings.  Many of these things are getting much easier to find since people wear them for exercise clothes or sportswear.  Even Wal-Mart has a whole section devoted to this sort of thing.  Sadly, most people wear it for everyday clothes, though.  LOL!  I think I am going to go back to my swimsuit modesty post and link your article!  If this is not okay with you please let me know.