Rethinking Modesty & the Teenager's Computer Privileges

Charity slept over last night. She didn't want to go home to an empty house on Thanksgiving, so we welcomed her. Mr. Plainview won't be home from work until Monday anyway, so I dragged out the air mattresses, and Charity and I stayed up late talking after another helping of the dinner leftovers.

Somehow, the conversation turned toward the matter of dress again. Neither one of us has been paying very much attention to it since her divorce and my last run-in with the in-laws. She can't very well preserve much modesty working in a casino bar, and the external pressure to "wear pants" finally did me in.

It makes me angry to think I gave in on something I believe. I don't know if I'm more upset with the people who pressured me, or myself for allowing them to get to me.

In any case, I'm getting to the point of not caring anymore what other people say and think about me. I don't make it an issue. It's very unfair to allow everyone else to.


And now James and I are butting heads. He was up till 3 AM chatting online with his girlfriend, after he bade us all "goodnight" and acted as if he were going upstairs to go to sleep. It's not just his disregard for responsibility and good sense (getting up at 1:30 PM today), but the overt deceit he employed in going about it.

I took his keyboard, phone, and cell phone until I "figure things out," but I think I'll keep them until Mr. Plainview gets home. He'll bring some rationale to the situation and sort of temper the consequences. At this moment, I am all too inclined to ground the kid again for the week and curb all communications outside the family.