Thursday, July 03, 2008

I’ll text you my answers. Ha! Kidding! No I won’t.

Wow. Wow! Seriously? A hundred-something responses??? *THIS* is what brought all you lurkers out into the daylight? A post about cell phones? I’ve written from the very very bottom of my very very self-absorbed heart in the past about my woes as a parent, my hatred for Wal-Mart, and how stupid, shallow, selfish people make me want to rip their faces off ….. and *THIS* is what got you talking? Cell phone usage and text messaging? Hmmm, maybe my next post should be about microwaves. Or mp3 players. Or hand mixers.

Kidding, of course. I’m thrilled so many of you wrote in with your own experiences! I’m grateful for the ideas and information, and proud that we did it without a single snarky comment, despite differences of opinions. We were respectful, and polite ….. to quote London Tipton … “Yeah, us!”

In all honesty, I think there were a lot of helpful personal experiences shared, and I think the bottom line is what works best for one family might not be the same thing that works best for another. Most of all, I feel much better about my opinion that Brayden, personally, is currently too young for a cell phone. The fact that the vast majority of you (not all, but most) had your kids wait until much later most certainly makes me feel validated.

A few things I’d like to mention, specifically:

I think there are absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt, certain situations where giving (or lending) a cell phone to a child (as young as eleven, and even younger than eleven) is perfectly justified. It’s just that for *US*, most of those situations don’t apply. I drive or walk my kids to and from school, a distance of about fifty yards. I am a stay-at-home-mom and am never unavailable during the day, nor do my kids go to an after-school program, or stay home alone. Ever. They don’t yet do much, if anything, in the way of after or before-school activities. Evening sports practices are accompanied by a parent. They’re not allowed to play anywhere but on our street, they don’t go to the mall or movies or anywhere without an adult, they don’t babysit, they don’t travel with church or school groups that I’m not a chaperone, and they’re not allowed to visit friends’ houses unless the parents are home. So, FOR NOW, I don’t feel it’s a necessity, although I know as they get older our situation(s) will change. At that point, I have no doubt I will feel differently about the need for a cell phone and we’ll get one when we see fit.

It never occurred to me that text bullying might be an issue. I agree that the written word can often be misinterpreted, even when no harm was intended. In my personal e-mails, I have a tendency to really, really, really overuse the smiley emoticon, so people will know I am trying to be pleasant. (Shockingly, sometimes my naturally agreeable and lovely personality doesn’t come across, can you imagine???) It’s certainly something to keep an eye out for.

I understand that for many professionals, especially those who cannot be interrupted during the day (ie, schoolteachers) texting is a better option. When Blaine has a meeting at work, he simply leaves his cell phone on his desk so as to not be interrupted. Even for important, urgent, life-threatening calls like me wanting to know if he’s seen my library book anywhere in the house. Or does spaghetti sound ok for dinner. But for me, for now, texting is not necessary. And although it makes me an old fogey that I don’t want to mess with it …. Well, I don’t. If and when the time comes, I’ll learn it. But not until then.

It never occurred to me that a child could use their cell phone to text a parent, to initiate a phone call back to the child, to get said child out of a sticky situation and then “blame” it on the parents. That’s devious and sneaky …. And genius! I love it! Most certainly a trick we’ll be remembering when the time comes! As an aside, my mother ALWAYS told me growing up that if ever I found myself in a situation that made me uncomfortable, or a group of kids were doing something I knew would get me in trouble, I could always use her as an excuse (“My Mom won’t let me”) --- no matter what. I don’t think I ever had to, but it was good to know I had that to fall back on, you know, when my friends starting doing their underhanded and criminal behavior, like toilet papering the principal’s house. (I know, that’s about as delinquent as I ever got. Well, except for that one time at a wedding reception my senior year, before I fully understood the power of alcohol, but we won’t talk about that.)

I understand and agree that a cell phone can be a fabulous tool for teaching a child responsibility. The responsibility of keeping track of the phone, keeping track of minutes, keeping track of payments, etc. And I’m sure plenty of kids Brayden’s age are capable of doing it. Brayden …. However ….. hmmm. I’m not so confident. At this stage in the game, I just wish she was responsible enough to put all her dirty clothes in her laundry basket, or NOT forget her homework at least once or twice a month, or remember to feed the damn cat she insisted we take in. So I think for her, she has a ways to go in the Personal Responsibility Arena before we move on to cell phones.

Elle, I agree wholly with your comment about technology, which is supposed to make our lives easier, seeming to own us in certain ways. I know when I am forced to go a few days without the ability to check my e-mail, I can physically feel my blood pressure starting to rise. Why? Because I might miss a bazillion e-mails about free shipping from JC Penney, or an update on my Upromise account, or the summer reading list from Border Rewards? Thanks to iphones and fax machines and webmail, it’s practically impossible for people to escape the office … ever … anywhere. I’m not in any rush for my daughter to become addicted to a cell phone, either, and start down the slippery slope that seems to trip up the vast majority of us here in the 21st century. (Are we actually still in the 21st century? When does the 22nd century start? Does anyone know?)

I also loved the comments about how with a cell phone, a teen can tell her parents she is one place, but actually be someplace else. I plan to do the same thing my friend did with his daughter’s cell phone … activate the GPS feature inside the phone without telling her. Then, as long as I call her and she answers, I’ll know exactly where she is. (Heh-heh-heh, evil-parent laugh.)

Oooh, yes, I never thought about them texting late into the night after everyone else is in bed. Most assuredly will need to keep the cell phone in a separate location at night …. Like, um, in between my bosoms, so there’s no chance of her sneaking it back.

Anonymous, I also agree with you that kids are being raised to expect instant gratification and that cell phones, and more specifically, texting, only serve to enhance that. That’s already a problem we have here in our household, what with money burning a hole in everyone’s pockets, and now, now, now, and how much longer, and I want I want I want …. You get the picture. Last night Kendrie wanted to make strawberries dipped in chocolate. She was seriously annoyed to discover we had neither strawberries, nor chocolate, in our house. She was even more annoyed that I wouldn’t drop everything and drive to the store at 8 o’clock at night to buy them for her. I think even bigger than a cell phone, patience and appreciation and DELAYED gratification (picture me waving my arms about very grandiosely) are lessons we should be working on in our family.

I also agree that all the texting is leaving (some) children less capable of carrying on a verbal conversation. I still have to prompt my children to say please, and thank you, and remind them to look an adult in the eye when speaking. I would like them to TALK to their friends, on the phone, or even better, in person, and work on improving their communication skills. And by “improving”, I do NOT mean memorizing the entire text-message shorthand abbreviation language. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if all pre-teens had the ability to carry on a five-minute conversation with an adult? Of course, that would require them taking their cell phone off one ear and taking their ipod headphones out of the other ear and quite possibly, world peace and saving the rain forest and inventing an alternative fuel before gas hits five dollars a gallon would be more do-able.

Really? I can set the phone to review all sent and received text messages? I can DO that??? Sweet! Score!

Anonymous, you made the comment that sometimes you prefer texting because you’re busy and don’t want to have to go through any polite interchanges before making your request to whomever you are texting ….. I get it. I really do. I’ll confess, there have been times in my life when I’ve called someone, needing only to give a brief piece of information, and have been relieved when the voicemail or answering machine picks up. (Did I just admit that out loud???) So I understand what you’re saying. But still, it makes me sad to think saying ‘Hello’ and “How are you?’ to our friends and family is a chore to be avoided when we’re busy. I *get* it, but I don’t like it.

So, bottom line, Brayden won’t be getting a cell phone at eleven. Most likely not twelve, and maybe not even until thirteen or fourteen or later. We’ll wait and see how the wind blows then. People gave some very, very valid reasons for kids to have them, and some helpful pointers for making the process manageable. But mostly, I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and letting me know I’m not alone in my feelings and opinions.

In the meantime, it sounds like we should form some kind of Meanest Mothers in the World Club or something. I think we have enough women here to form the board of directors, fill all the officer positions, and get a decent sized membership going. We could serve Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic at the meetings, and bring all kinds of snacks and goodies that we refuse to share with our kids. Then, each gathering could be designated to sharing tips and strategies for making our kids as miserable as possible by denying them all the things in life they truly NEED, like designer clothes and electronics and pink ponies.

I promise not to text you the minutes of our meetings.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm in for the club! I just need to have a baby first.

Kristi, on a side note, I borrowed your topic yesterday for my afternoon drive radio show. I think I may have done that before. You need to start a show prep service. Anyway, the phone lines lit up with call after call after call with the majority of people saying 11 is too young.

So, hmm, what should I talk about today?

Kristie said...

Cate, that's awesome -- I'm so flattered!!

Today, ask them .... hmmmmm, if there's any non-invasive procedure for making my 41- yr old boobs perkier.

TMI? Sorry. :)

Anonymous said...

Can I sign up for snacks?

Dixie

Anonymous said...

Can we have wine instead of diet Dr Pepper?

Lisa Hellier said...

I am howling! And not just because I pictured you waving your arms around grandiosely--I read your CB site about almost knocking yourself out with that "wave".

Simply put, I love the way you took in the info, digested the info, and then delivered it back to us with such aplomb. Thanks. This is why I read.

And on the Meanest Mom thing, I would join in a heartbeat.

Anonymous said...

Meanest Mom club here I come! Shall I bake brownie pound cake and Italian Cream to go with the Diet Dr. Pepper?

My 4 kids think that I am sooooo meeaann when they don't get what they want RIGHT NOW! You are hiliarious!
Sandy in Edison, GA

Anonymous said...

Kristie, you have no idea how many times Derek has texted me to tell me to come and get him and when I get there it was because of kids smoking or fights or once was when the kids were playing "blackout" but because I had actually had that talk with Derek he knew how dangerous it was and called me right then to come and get him. (He will text when he doesnt want his friends to hear him) Then there was the time at school when I was waiting for him down the road and some kid punched him in the balls and he couldnt even walk to where I was and so he called me. (Let me tell you how pissed I was, of course I went right into the office. Why do kids do these kind of things?)
And I thouroughly enjoy going through his messages!!! (and yes I read his myspace too) But when you do get her a cell phone, do get unlimited texts because you cant control how many texts the other kids send (and sometimes there are glitches and the freakin company wont take the charges off even if it is impossilbe to send 3 texts every second for the entire 24 hour period, even during sleep and school)

M~

Anonymous said...

So I am not the only one who refuses to share her snacks with her kids? Phew thought I wasn't!!! Sign me up for the club as I refused to get a cell phone for my 6 year old when I don't even have one. And sonic mmmmmmmmmmm
Baby Grant's Mommy

Anonymous said...

Hi! I posted as Anonymous last time because I didn't see the Name/URL last time. Thanks for addressing all the comments in your post! I too applaud *our* ability to have these sorts of discussions without resorting to criticism and judgment. Anywho, just wanted to leave my name this time, and thank you for your blog. I enjoy reading all your various and sundry topics, from your family to the surrogacy journey to military lifestyle and moving adventures. Okay, I shall resume lurking! ;)

Anonymous said...

Count me in, when is our first meeting? Seriously, when my children were young the city I lived in offered parenting classes for parents of children birth to age 5 through the public schools. Seems to me that parents of teens need this education as much as those with young ones. A parent facilitator lead the discussions but for the most part the learning came from other parents. Like anything in life, it is power in numbers and I believe that parents have become so busy with so many aspects of their lives that they no longer connect with other parents. As busy as I am I have made an effort, much to the dismay of my teens, to become acquainted with the parents of their friends. Having done this eliminates the discomfort of picking up the phone to find out if my son "really is at Johnny's house" and not off in some cow field partying with the gang. It's not foolproof but it does help and let's your teens know that you will be diligent on keeping track of where they are and whom they are with. In fact I often make my teens call me from a land line so that my caller ID can pick up the telephone number of where they are, and further speak to the parent in the house. Yes, my children are mortified but so what. You overwhelming comments regarding what works for one family does not always work for another is so true. I do not judge other parents for handling their children differently than I handle mine. It is truly about your own family values. Keeping hold of these values during the teen/preteen years is very challenging.

Anonymous said...

Kristie,
I had to laugh last night remembering your post because my husband and I were talking and every 5 seconds my phone beaped to alert me to a new text message. Oops! He hates texting, so his response was that it would have been much quicker for me and the texter to have a real phone call, which is probably true.

Anyway, I loved some of the ideas people shared in their comments! And it was nice that no one got snarky. :) Also was interested to see the comment from M today about getting her son out of bad situations by him sending her a text. I will tuck that idea away for when the time comes that it is needed and also will be sharing it with my friend whose daughter is 13.

Anonymous said...

Just so you know ... when the day comes 1 or 2 or all 3 of your kids have cell phones ... :-) .... that when you activate that GPS feature I think they get a message (or are notified somehow) on their end that their phone is being tracked. Or so I hear ... that wasn't invented yet when my kids got their first phones, but I have heard the other "mean" parents at work talk about it. lol

Good-luck!!

Anonymous said...

I'm sitting here at work sipping my very own Diet Dr. Pepper and basking in my "meanest mom" glory I've mediated 3 fights over the phone since I've been here. My kids will totally nominate me after that...I'm in!

By the way, Brayden and my Jaidyn (who also happens to be 11 and wants a cell phone...a pink Razor phone no less) could be sisters....you described her responsibility stuff to a tee!

As for cell phones in our house, we have two, one that's pay by the minute which we only put $20 on at a time and one on a plan. When my oldest (who didn't get to use it until 7th grade) would go to a game, he could take the pay by the minute phone to call when he was ready to be picked up. It's cute...he'll call with a play by play at the end of each quarter. I knew he was at the game because you could hear it in the background(and I knew the score of the game!). With the pay by the minute, if he did happen to lose the phone, once the minutes were gone by whoever finds it, that was the end of it vs. using minutes, texting, downloading, whatever until we noticed it gone. I also blocked all texting, downloading, everything but the ring!

Hope you have a great 4th!

Lenaya

Daisy, Just Daisy said...

Just a thought on the "kids with cell phones can tell their parents they are one place & actually be elsewhere."

My cousins are often required to snap a cell phone camera shot...often a shot of him & the hosting parent in the living room of his friend's house....or a picture of him drinking his Starbucks with his friend in the coffee shop.... as "proof" that he is where he says he is. Always a thought for the future!

My Mom could be a member of the Meanest Mom club...but consider I got myself through college & law school and we have a great relationship now, I think it was all for the best.

Messy and Wonderful said...

Count me in the club. Because tone of voice is hard to read here as well as a text, I hope you feel flattered rather than annoyed or nagged by this - I'm dying to hear the next portions of your surrogate story. Many mornings I wake up wondering how the birth went and the relationships that followed - just wanted you to know that you write about interesting stuff (I've enjoyed the stuff inbetween too, but I'm a bit of a birth junkie and surrogacy intrigues me).

Anonymous said...

I'm in on the meanest mom club. I know I qualify because I just took the ps2 away from son before he even got to play. Why, you ask? Since he hasn't played in like one/two weeks? He assumed that younger brother "lost" his star wars ps2 game and punched him in the arm. Found the game. Lost the ps2. And son and hubbie leave for a mission trip to Peru tomorrow a.m. at 4:30 a.m. For 12 days. No ps2.
So, I'm in?

Anonymous said...

I didn't know about the GPS feature on the phone. My oldest kiddi-kin is 17, and has not been a model teenager in the past. IE, a couple of weeks ago she was supposed to go over to her boyfriends house. Imagine my surprise when I checked out her myspace page a few days later, and saw that she actually had gone to Lake Lanier *and was stupid enough to post the evidence on the internet*. I got my own myspace page for the express purpose of keeping of with what she is posting on there. Its also pretty useful for spying on her.But, I digress.

After she finished being grounded for the Lake Lanier incident, she wanted to spend the night at a friends. We have known this friend for a long time, like the mom, etc. So, I felt okay about her going.

Being the smart mom that I am, I told her that she had to call me from her friend's house phone at 11pm. That way I could verify through caller ID that she was where she was supposed to be. "Foolproof plan!" I thought proudly, and congratulated myself for being so clever. LOL

She made her obligatory 11pm call from her friends house, and *then* left there to go back out. Went to Dawson Forest with 11 other friends. Got arrested for underage drinking. Got to wear bright orange jail clothes. Etc. Etc. Etc.

To make a long story short (too late!), if:
1) she is ever un-grounded again, and
2) IF she ever gets the cell phone back

then I will be activating the GPS feature! That is valuable info!

THE END :)

Sally said...

MMWC - I am so IN!!! I love DDP and we can get snacks that we tell the kids are only Mommy snacks because they are "diet food" (that works at my house).

Anyway - great post!!

Anonymous said...

I promise I will be short this time!!

I am in on the Meanest Mom Club. Back in the day, when my mom was the meanest mom in the world, my sister and I came up with an acronym for Mom.
M.ean
O.ld
M.om

Because we were smart like that. LOL

Little Bird said...

I didn't read all of yesterday's comments so I might be repeating what someone else said. My son got a phone when he was on his own. He started walking to and from school in 6th grade (we live in Manhattan) and he got a phone then. Before that, it wasn't necessary -- he was always with an adult or in a house.

The other benefit of texting is that its more anonymous. Not only can the child text the parent and say "this party is terrible, call me and say I have to come home" but the parent can text and check in without the kid being embarrassed because their parent interrupted something. Since the kids text each other all the time, no one knows when he's responding to me or when he's texting someone else.

LASTLY, his school does not permit use of the phone during the day (makes sense). But a text message is displayed on the screen of his phone when its received without having to press any buttons. So if I have to get an urgent message to him during the day, I know he can just glance at his phone in his locker, not break the rules, and get my message. The school isn't always interested in relaying messages!

But given your situation, no phone seems to be needed now.

Anonymous said...

I have to be President of the MMWC!! My children will insist:) My oldest son (26) asked me (when he was about 15) if I woke up every morning thinking of ways to make his life miserable. I told him it was my duty and right as a Mother, and if I pissed him off or embarrassed him at least once a day, then my goals for the day had been accomplished! So there.....can I be President??
~Debbie~

Anonymous said...

Count me in as a future member of the Meanest Mom Club!!!!! Since my daughter is only five (and the all important 3/4) she still thinks I'm the coolest person in the world. I do anticipate that once she realizes that she has parents who set boundaries and care about things like manners, respect, responsibility, etc., she's bound to, at one time or another, whine about how "everyone else on the whole entire planet" except for her gets to have "so much fun!". This is the exact quote that my my recently reminded me that I gave her too many times to count as a teenager. What goes around comes around I guess!

Anonymous said...

You go girl! I love your blog and highly agree with you about cell phones for young kids and texting in general! My children will not have cell phones until either they can pay for them or there is some reason necessary. There was ONE instance when I let my daughter borrow it for a GS trip I couldn't go with her on. I knew she was with a very trusted adult but still felt safer giving it to her just in case. As far as texting, the abbreviations are annoying and it takes too long to text! I don't understand why people have to be doing it all the time!

Anonymous said...

Can't help it, had to pop back in ... I'm chuckling while I'm typing this so please nobody take offense ... quite a few people have stated they don't understand how and/or why kids use texting so much to communicate. Could it possibly be that texting is to kids what blogging is to their parents??

Just one of those things that makes me go 'hmmmmmmmm .... ' ;-)

I'll just go pop back on out now!

Sarah said...

I would like to join the Mean Mother club. Oh yes. And I'm all for Diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic being the official beverage.

I told my kids (ages 15 and 12) a long time ago that it was my job to be their mother and not their friend. Fortunately... my daughter is being my friend but she still understands the limits.

Sign me up.

Anonymous said...

I'm in for the Meanest Mom Club, too! I'm a stay-at-home mom, too...and sometimes "mean" just translates into "me doing my job"!!

I'm not sure if I'm being redundant in answering this, because I haven't read through all of these posts...but yes, we're in the 21st century still. The 22nd starts in the year 2100...and I'm fairly certain that NONE of us will be here to enjoy it!!! So enjoy the 21st, girlfriend!!!! :)

Julie H.
Bucks County, PA

Anonymous said...

I think you are living in a fantasy world and should try to get ready for having three teenagers, which WILL happen.

Kristie said...

Oh, Anonymous, tsk tsk .... did you not read the very remark I made about how great it was we had this discussion with no snarky comments? And then you had to go and say something like that .. (sigh)

Let me guess, you were a fat, unhappy kid who punched clowns, too?

I strongly suggest if you don't like my fantasy world, you exit it by hitting the little red button in the top right corner of your computer.

Anonymous said...

When I was 11 I decided that I absolutely HAD to have a cell phone, and spent the entire summer begging, pleading, and harassing my parents to please, please, please, get me one "in case of an emergency". I was convinced that all of my friends in middle school would have a phone, and desperately didn't want to be left out. Granted, I did have a few more legitimate reasons than Brayden to have my own phone -- I took the subway to school, walked by myself to ballet and soccer after school, and generally had a fair amount of freedom to hang out with friends.

FINALLY, my parents agreed to get me a cellphone before I started sixth grade that fall. My school was only about three blocks north of the WTC, and the third day of school ended up being September 11th, 2001. When we evacuated the building, everything was absolutely crazy (the smoke was literally suffocating, people were jumping out of the north tower which soon after collapsed, the streets were completely chaotic, etc) and many of us ended up spending the night in the lobby of a downtown hotel. What do you know...my cellphone was the *only* one that worked. Not only was I able to contact my parents and make sure they were ok, but many of my classmates and teachers were able to call loved ones as well. Although not a funny subject, I still joke with my parents that all of my nagging led to me being able to perform a real public service.

Of course, now that I am about to head off to college in California, things have turned around. My mom just bought a new plan with more minutes and unlimited texting with some kind of hope that we'll stay in touch every five minutes. Riiiiight.

ANYWAY, after that long saga, my 18-year-old advice would be to get Brayden a phone whenever she does start spending more time away from a parent. My little sister had a disney phone for a while that only let her call/receive calls from my parents and a couple of other adults they trusted. I think it gave them some piece of mind more than anything.

-Sarah (a lurker who followed you over from CB)

Anonymous said...

I haven't read the replies from the last post, and haven't even finished reading this post. Still, I wanted to chime in on the age thing. My oldest, who is now 15, has talked about a cell phone for a couple of years. What finally made me break down and buy her one was a class trip to Quebec for her grade 8 end of the year trip. She was going with 3 or 4 adults, and 2 classes of kids. They would be left to walk around the mall, as well as Old Quebec City by themselves. I chose to drive to Quebec and stay with a friend, and to buy her a cheap, pay as you go phone. She was in a French speaking province, and knew very little French. For my own piece of mind, she got the phone. I would have just loaned her mine, but I needed it for the trip, myself. She now just uses only once in a while, and just if she's going somewhere that I'd like her to have it for safety reasons.

My then 11 year old also went to Quebec last year, and I was at home. I sent my phone with her.

Those are the only reasons I think my kids have needed a phone, and I'm still sticking to that with them.

OK, back to read the rest...

Anonymous said...

Okay just curious and hope its okay to ask for feedback on your site? How do you activate the GPS on a phone and how do you make the phone keep a record of all incoming and outgoing texts even if they erase? For us, cell phones have been a mixed blessing. Our kids (20,18 and 16) text incessantly, but we can also get ahold of them at any time and visa versa. We made them check their phones in to us at 10PM if they were home. When they graduated high school, which two of them have now, they get the privilege of keeping them, still with the understanding of no texts after 11PM. As far as I know, we have avoided any of the uglier problems with cell use- I think only one ugly message has been received by one of my children. Brian and I text quite frequently, especially during the school year when I am teaching and can't answer calls. I just got our youngest (10) a pay as you go phone a few months ago only because she was going on a school trip, we had a funeral and couldn't go, so I wanted her to be able to call if she needed to. It went right back in the drawer when she got home where it will stay until and if we have to be separated again.

Kristie-Brian and I (especially me) really enjoy your site. We really laughed at your post about Sonic and Steve. I have been "lurking" since you all's 20 year reunion. Thanks for the laughs and info.

Haley said...

I'm with Cate...I'll join the club, I just don't have a kid either. Is that a prereq?

The mom I babysit for sometimes has ME do certain things with the kids because she knows they'll respond differently to me. How do you think I ended up sitting in on piano lessons every week?

I love how you took all of this information and put it out there for your readers. To succeed, kids need structure, and often times (although they may not admit it at the time), they love it. Too often I have seen parents want to "give independence" at too early an age, and unfortunately, adolescents typically don't know how to handle the freedom.

So, call it the meanest mom club, but one day your kids (and their teachers!) will love you for it.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah-by the way, I founded the meanest moms club years ago. My older two girls are just now to the point that maybe I'm not so bad after all. It does get better and they do eventually come around to "Mother knows best!"

Stacie from MN said...

Sign me up for that club! I know I'm definitely in the running for meanest mom according to my children. It's also nice to hear that my children are not the only ones who think they need everything & they need it now!

katy said...

I'm in the club. I didn't let mine have cell phones until high school. long after their friends had them.
The first week we should discuss limiting phone time to 10 minutes a day HAHAHA.

Mama Bear said...

Well said. I used to be the meanest mom. Then my baby turned 18. Suddenly I have become smarter in my children's eyes. Your turn will come.

Anonymous said...

Well, my response to your entry regarding cell phones and texting is causing me to eat crow. My son just broke his jaw in an accident and now can only communicate with us via text as his mouth is wired shut (the silver lining in all of this; a teenager who can not speak for four months!) So in spite of my objections to cell phones and texting I guess this where I step in and say technology can be wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Kristie, you are so funny!
I have been in the 'Meanest Mom' club for over two years now because I won't give Madie a cell phone, wireless laptop, or the latest game gadget. Although she did save her money and buy her own Nintendo DS a few weeks ago! (Yeah!)
And, it's so funny because now my son has a little girl and I have to keep telling him that he has to be her dad, not her friend! She is going to have lots of friends, but only one dad! (ha!ha!)
I have conceded a slight bit, in that when we go out shopping she gets to carry my cell phone in her purse. So far, that has kept her happy!
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Anonymous said...

I have never posted, but thought I would reply with this. I am 27, when I was in HS, one of my good friends had a cell phone, back then we didn't get cell phones until we could drive, incase we got stranded somewhere, etc...Anyways, her parents did not tell her the cell phone number, not sure if you can still do that or not. She could only call out and her parents could call her. That way she couldn't give her number out to friends

Anonymous said...

According to my kids, I am a charter member of the Meanest Mom Club! And when they were younger and asked me why I was so mean, I always replied "When I was leaving the hospital after giving birth to you, the nurse placed you in my arms and told me 'Remember - you must be mean'! Case closed - I was just following instructions! Now - what can I bring for the first official meeting?