Last Updated on March 20, 2018

As a strong proponent of modesty who writes books for teens and tweens, I’m always told “You just don’t understand how hard it can be!” Women assume that since I’m trying to be a vocal proponent for modesty that my two teenage girls are the poster children for all things demure. Oh, please!

My girls do understand and embrace what I teach but they are just like all teen girls. They fall in love with a shirt and they just have to wear it no matter what! That’s what brought me to a most unpleasant, passive/aggressive conflict with one of my girls—who shall remain nameless—last Saturday morning. (We’re talking the Hiroshima bomb of all silent treatments aimed right at me!)

The 100% cotton t-shirt in question had survived its initial washing in hot water, but not without losing a few inches. (Another skill I’m working to teach my teen girls who do their own laundry!)  It looked like she’d painted it on. I’m not exaggerating. I pointed out to the daughter presenting her plea that I could see the indent of her belly button through the fabric. Nevertheless, she was determined that this was the shirt she would wear to my Barnes & Noble book signing, which would be featuring my line of modesty products for tween girls! She pointed out that she had “nothing” else to wear. Even tried on another equally tight shirt to defend her case.

I stood my ground and we drove to Barnes & Noble without a word passing between us. We arrived at the book signing—her fuming, me pondering how nice it would be to have a mom tell me I’d done the right thing. But alas, I am that mom, spreading courage to moms far and near that they can fight the fashion battle and win.

I am happy to say that it ended well. By the time my book signing was half over, my dear daughter was smiling in the shirt she’d borrowed from her slightly bigger sister. And last night I hit the clearance rack of a local store and bought a few new shirts—one size bigger to survive the washing machine. This brought a few smiles. When she tried them on, I even earned a hug.

Battle won!

Moms, don’t give up. Fight with me, please. We need to stand together to stop this cultural attack against our daughters’ purity. In fact, I’d be honored if you’d sign the positive petition I’m presenting to the fashion industry along with results that demonstrate that immodesty and obsession with beauty are directly linked to eating disorders, depression, and early sexual activity. Go to my website to add your voice to the 50,000 we intend to collect.

Is it a battle that’s really worth fighting? You bet!

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