Yes, we are a headcovering family. Yes, this is an old photo....August 2005, to be precise. And besides everyone being older now, we are missing Miss Emily in this photo. Goodness, I need to get a family picture done soon! We don't really do alot of pictures, but we need to. Either way...We are a covering family. My problem is how to make it work on the youngers. In this photo, only our olders are wearing one. The other two daughters do wear them now, but Miss Emily is just 2 years old. It's rather difficult to keep a covering on her unless it's a kapp style, which tends to make folks think we are Mennonite.
Not that I have a serious problem with our being thought of as Mennonite -- really, just wearing modest clothing and a covering makes folks immediately think of Amish, Mennonite, Catholic or LDS -- but, truth in fact, we are not Mennonite or any of those other religions. I simply don't want to give someone the wrong impression.
Our coverings are a hanging veil style, not really connected with any particular religious group. Hanging veils don't really lend themselves easily to toddler heads, however. They slip and slide all over and just don't last long. Kapp styles, on the other hand, work perfectly, but do give off certain religious overtones.
So, what do I do? We believe it is easier to have the girls always wear coverings. Not simply when they reach an age of accountability, but as a normal part of their life. I just haven't hit upon the right covering yet.
Any suggestions?
8 comments:
I have a question for you: how did you decide that the young ones need to cover? My daughters wear scarves, headbands, hats - sometimes. I don't require it, though I do require modest dress all the time. Could you expound on your thoughts on this here?
I got rather winded...and no doubt, bunny-trailed with your answer on my blog.
Simply put, we decided it would be easier on the girls to always cover...to never know a time when they didn't do it. It made more sense to us and seemed the easier route to go, rather than allow certain things now that we would later disallow, say at an age of accountability or such.
Deanna
Just brainstorming here: What if you took a toddler sized capp, and sewed a veil onto the front brim, so that you had the best of both worlds?
Good thought. The only issue I can think of would be that summer down here is really hot and humid and the double layer might not be comfortable, but I guess we could adjust. We wear dresses and aprons daily, so are layered already.
Definitely something to play with and see what I can do! Thanks!
Deanna
Love your blog. I hope you continue. :-D
I wouldn't worry about people thinking your are mennonite or whatever. Like you said, they will think that just because you wear a dress... I know first hand.
;-)
The youngest little girl in our community just turned a year, and shes been wearing coverings for almost 6 months. Her mother folds hankercheifs into the triangle and ties the back, me style as we wear, and then just trains her not to touch it, or pull it off. She also places lower on the forehead so it doesn't slide back as easy. Now that she has some hair she uses clips, and has trained her not to touch the clips. This is just another idea.
Peace, Kris Ante
Try The website "garlands of Grace" just googgle it, its a website that carries nice headcoverings for girls and ladies.
You know, I wouldn't be too concerned about the mennonite association. I am often mistaken as one although only Amish live in our area. Really, I don't find it a problem because aren't they also percieved in a similar way as far as beliefs and way of living? I'll admit I stay away from kapps because of my Amish neighbours and the other connotations, but it would be a very comfortable thing to wear. I found many beautiful historical headcoverings from the late 1700 and early 19th century that I keep meaning to try. The styles are totally different from Anabaptist styles everyone thinks of, and very lovely. I even discussed with some others the possiblities of different colours or of reproducing the embroideries with colour rather than whitework. (For me the colour *I* prefer happen to be very Amish though... blue, white, and black.) In the end I don't really mind the tags/labels given to me, because I still show that I am different from normal society. (I have been called Amish, Menonite, or Muslim depending on the locations and type of covering.)
For what it is worth I love kapps on little girls!
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