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UTAH COUNTY — Parents with teenagers know just how hard it is to come up with new ways to discipline during those defiant, boundary-pushing years. One Utah County dad figured out a way to teach his daughter a lesson on modesty, never thinking his tactics would go viral.
Scott Mackintosh was fed up with his teenage daughter's wardrobe choices, according to a post on their family blog. After a few weeks of chiding her for wearing short shorts, he decided to go on the defensive to teach her a lasting lesson.
The family was heading out for a night of dinner and activities. Before they piled into the car, Scott took scissors to an old pair of jeans.
His "cut-offs" left little to the imagination. He tells the story of his modesty experiment on the Mackintosh family blog.
"As I walked out to the car I could see my daughter and her brother in the backseat with their heads down focused on their phones," Mackintosh said. "Needless to say they didn't even notice."
They noticed soon enough, and endured a night of hanging out with a dad in super short shorts. The family went to dinner, miniature golfing, and finally, when Scott's daughter thought she could take no more, he suggested dessert at a local ice cream joint.
My daughter will always know that her dad loves her and cares about her enough to make a fool out of himself.
–Scott Mackintosh
"As I pulled into a stall, my daughter said, ‘Uh, no! We are not going in!' I said ‘Sure we are, let's go!' ‘Let's go through the drive up,' she said. We went in, but she stayed in the car," Mackintosh said of the experience.
Mackintosh said he's not sure if his lesson on modesty sunk in, but he's glad he took a risk and parented "outside the box".
"I don't think my object lesson of ‘modest is hottest' made the statement I had intended," Mackintosh said. "But no matter if social media gets the story mixed up and twisted, my daughter will always know that her dad loves her and cares about her enough to make a fool out of himself."
