Little Virgins

When I was a little girl, I thought virgin meant something like "girl in the Bible" because I had only heard of the Virgin Mary, and there was a certain costume that always accompanied Virgin Mary. So one day my mom gets my baby sister out of the bathtub, all wrapped in a towel, and I say, "Awww...Mommy, she looks just like a little virgin." After the gasp followed by an awkward silence followed by a barrage of questions, my mom explained to me that I was a teeny bit mistaken about the meaning of that word.

Big Sissy won some hair clips at Nana and Papa's church on Sunday (while Hubby and I were having a little child-free retreat in a nearby town). She spent the next few days creating some nice costumes using baby blankets and clips. She called them nightgowns, but since they resembled a nativity scene--especially with Brown Lamby all wrapped in swaddling clothes--I suggested they looked like Bible character costumes. Then I proceed to point out that they could be Bible sisters like Leah and Rachel. Then they could both marry Jacob (Little Buddy). He always wants to play with them, so bam. Problem solved.

Instead of the excited, "Great idea, Mommy!" response that I expected, I got an awkward stare reminiscent of the day I misused the term "virgin."

"We can't be Rachel and Leah, Mommy."
"Why not?"
"Ummmm...because we're both kind of beautiful. Who would be Rachel and who would be Leah?"
Oooooo...true. I didn't know they were actually listening to all those Bible stories.

Genesis 29:16-18: Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

So they are CLEARLY not Leah and Rachel. Of course. Maybe Mary and Martha?