Greetings from merry olde England! I’m here in London for 2 weeks with my husband celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. I hadn’t intended to blog from the UK, but during our visit to Windsor castle today, a certain exhibit raised some thoughts worth sharing.
At the castle, a series of display cases contained two large dolls–about 30″ tall–and their extensive wardrobes. These were gifts from the French government to Queen Elizabeth & her sister Margaret as young girls (both princesses at the time). The numerous complete doll ensembles were custom-designed & crafted with real silks, furs & jewels by the top Parisian fashion houses such as Cartier and Lanvin. Every item was exquisite & meticulously detailed.
As a mother of three lively daughters, my first thought was: “Why give such expensive & delicate playthings to little girls who don’t understand their value. Surely even royals’ children damage their toys.” But the pristine condition of the doll collection indicated otherwise.
It then occurred to me that little princesses Elizabeth & Margaret were learning through their play how to dress and act as royalty. Their nannies surely supervised their recreation, teaching the girls to dress their dolls carefully in the elegant ensembles required for morning, afternoon tea, evening and special ceremonial occasions. Every article of clothing and accessory had significance. There was a “proper way” to dress the dolls and serve them high tea.
As restrictive as that playtime may have been, it was part of instilling the traditions unique to those in the line of succession to the throne.
I saw parallels to our responsibilities as Christian parents in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Do we take every opportunity (including recreation) to raise our offspring to dress and act as children of our heavenly King?
I’ve written before about why I didn’t buy Barbie dolls for my daughters . . . Barbie’s wardrobe does not inspire Biblical modesty. My girls each received a fragile porcelain doll instead, along with instructions for careful handling.
Beyond clothing, do we teach our children to recognize, appreciate and properly cultivate things of great spiritual value . . . like patience, honesty and self-control? I did an imperfect job of instilling these things in my daughters because I am still growing in these virtues myself.
Like the Windsor girls, our children must learn and practice the decorum of God’s royal family. But unlike mastering British royal traditions, mastering the dress and actions of heavenly royalty is a lifelong process.