19 children and counting alum Zinger DuggarHer latest book reveals some unexpected details about the effects of her ultra-conservative upbringing.

In People are happy: Breaking free from the burden of imaginary expectationswhich debuted on Tuesday, January 14, the 31-year-old revealed that she never learned to swim as a child due to her family's modest clothing restrictions. (Jim Bob And Michelle Duggar Having raised their 19 children as followers of the Institute on Basic Life Principles, the women are expecting Wear dresses or skirts falling at least to the knees.).

“Since I was a little girl, I wanted to know what it felt like to push myself through the water, swing my arms and kick my legs to keep me on the surface. But I didn't know how," Zinger wrote. "Here's what I knew for sure: Long skirts weren't designed for learning to swim."

Zinger went on to joke that "the laws of physics, gravity and buoyancy don't play well with long skirts," explaining that she tried swimming at a young age — and it didn't go well. "Another way of saying 'long-skirt swimmer' is 'one who drowns,'" he adds. "And because long skirts were the only swimming fashion I had as a child, and because I had a thing about not wanting to drown, swimming skills weren't something I chose to do at the time."

The former reality star admitted it felt "scary" to be around "all kinds of water" without knowing how to swim. As an adult, though, Jinger has started dipping her toes since welcoming 6-year-old daughters Felicity and 4-year-old Evangeline with her husband. forget jeremy. (Zinger announcement in October 2024 that she is pregnant with the couple's third child.)

“I want (my kids) to learn how to swim. I want to let them know that I can, too," Zinger wrote. "But I was still so scared, the few times I tried on as a kid, that long skirt wrapped around my wobbly legs."

Zinger was initially "hesitant" to try again - his people-pleasing tendencies made him "afraid to fail" - but he was comforted by a friend named Rebecca, who helped him learn.

"We're still at it, my swim lessons, it's baby by baby (or maybe I should say baby by baby by baby)," Zinger wrote.

people please This isn't the first time Zinger has discussed her experience dressing modestly. In May 2021, Jinger opened up about choosing to break free from the rules of her upbringing.

"My mother always dressed us girls in skirts and dresses, a standard taken from Deuteronomy 22:5, which says, 'A woman shall not wear a man's clothing,'" she wrote in her second book, The Hope We Hold. “Modesty was a huge issue in our house and we believed that wearing skirts instead of pants was a central part of being modest. But I wanted to discover for myself what the Bible said.”

Zinger explained that after marrying Vuolo, 37, in 2016, she began "digging deeper into the meaning" behind familiar passages of scripture. She realized that modesty "isn't just what you wear" it's "about your position in the heart." Zinger also "never found a passage that specifically forbids women from wearing pants."

Last year, Zinger withdrawal First time he wore pants around his parents. “The first few times I went back (home), I didn't wear pants. I just wore a skirt to honor (them)," she said on the "Unplanned" podcast. "It's a big thing for my family, and my heart doesn't want to rub something in anybody's face and be like, 'I'm doing this. I'm my Doing my own work.' … It's not to make them mad."

People are happy: Breaking free from the burden of imaginary expectations Available now.