Let me back up. Kid 1 is not a whiner. She is not a complainer. She understands things, she does. But she's still sad about not having a cell phone.
She doesn't mention it above a couple times a month, so it's not even obnoxious. More like "Hey, if I get a real job, can I get a phone?" (Did you catch that? She wants to "get" a phone, not "have" a phone. The difference is that she knows that she will be paying for it. Thing of beauty, that is.)
So you know how some kids will use the "everybody else" line? "Everybody else gets to go to the Midnight Movie on a school night" or "Everybody else gets to take Driver's Ed this year" or "Everybody else has channels and a DVR" -- You know this phrase? Well, I never actually hear the words "Everybody else has a cell phone" (because she knows it won't crack my rock-hard resolve, but will probably end in mockery). But know what?
It's true.
She is the only one of her friends without a phone.
If I were to list her five, her ten best buds at school, I think it would be true. She's the only one. Now, this is not to say that I think she needs one. She doesn't drive. There are telephones at school, and at every house that she may find herself in, and clearly, in the bags, pockets, or backpacks of all her friends. There are phones everywhere. This logic is infallible.
But.
It's not just about her being able to call home, or receive texts, or check her facebook status during lunch break. The problem is, her friends won't call her at home.
Because anybody might answer the phone. Anybody. Like... your Mom. Eww.
May I be clear once again? Kid 1's friends rather like me. I'm Mama Becca. I'm the good cook, the one who knows all the lyrics to all the cheesy musicals. I'm the driver. I don't mean to sound vain, here, but I'm the Cool Mom.
But they won't call our house, because someone else (not Kid 1) might answer the phone.
This leads to sadness. Unfair sadness. Like not getting called about the sold-out show. Like not getting called about the Girls' Night In. Like not getting called.
And what can I do? She's right. It's not fair.
May I be an enabler here? It sounds like she's a level-headed kid who gets it. I say, get her the phone. Poor thing.
ReplyDeleteEww, you mean I might have to, like, talk and stuff to someone else? Like socialize and be polite? And ask if I can speak to you? That is so not fair.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll watch T.V. instead. Oh wait. I don't have any channels OR a DVR. Dang it!
Stick to your guns, Cool Mama. She's got plenty of time to be exposed to the radiation.
The life and mentality of the modern teenager scares me to DEATH. I can't believe I'm going to have three teenage girls some day, and I'm already planning on inflicting all sorts of unfairness on them.
ReplyDeleteYours sounds like quite a gem.
I think cell phones are half of what's wrong with teenage kids these days. Cell phones take away a lot of the parental control in your kid's life. My brother in law (19) moved out here for a few months. When he first got here-he was getting (and I kid you not)texted every 30 seconds to every minute. It was so irritating. And they were all from girls. When I talked to his mom--she had absolutely no idea girls even liked him.(And he lived at home-was completely dependent on his parents before he moved out here) Because he had a cell phone and cell phones bypass parents. This is a tough one Becca. Glad I'm not there yet. It's easy for me to be the critic because my oldest is only 9 1/2.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize someone else answering the phone was such a big deal.
ReplyDeletePoor Kid 1.
I'm going to be a mean mom about this one, I guess. I have a big thing about the cell phones.
ReplyDeleteThat's awful that the other kids won't call though. When did we become such a disconnected society?