Wrinkles

Today when the boys were getting ready for church I said, "Boys, make sure you put on the clean white shirts that are hanging up in your closet!"  But no one took notice.  When one of the twins came to me to help him comb his hair I noticed the shirt he was wearing. I don't think there was even one spot on it that was wrinkle-free.  I asked him where he got his shirt.  "From inside my backpack," was the reply.  Hmmm, I could have guessed that!  I sent him off to get a shirt from his closet, emphasizing that it be "One that is hanging up!" and hoped for the best.  The next twenty minutes were spent in wrestling George into his sunday shoes, washing off the amazingly dirty suit coat he insisted on wearing, combing more hair, brushing more teeth, and getting everyone to the church on time.  So my next opportunity of investigating the twins' shirts came when they stood up to pass the sacrament.  They both chose not to wear a suit coat today which was unfortunate, because those wrinkled shirts were no better than the one stored in the backpack had been.  "Wow, I thought in semi-mortification, I sure hope no one blames me for their wrinkled state!" Soon after that I thought, "People would surely know that the fact that the boys' shirts are wrinkled is their fault, not mine?"  Next thoughts--"Is that why I usually try to keep the boys looking wrinkle-free on Sunday though?  Because of what other people think?"  "Does it really matter that their shirts aren't ironed?"  "Does it matter because it shows disrespect to the Lord to come dressed that way?"

Luckily I was able to forget about it after a while and focus on the matters at hand.  But it got me thinking.  Generally, if a child is wearing wrinkled clothing it suggests that that child's parents are a bit neglectful and/or unkempt.  Since I wouldn't put myself in this category on purpose, I guess that's why I felt embarrassed today.  Because to others I may now seem that way a bit.  It was a good lesson to me on comparing myself to others, and judging others.  We don't ever have all the details about another person, so that should be the end of the story every time.