Ring-A-Ding-Ding

At what age did you give your child their first phone?

I decided that when the kids were younger they were constantly with me and wouldn’t need a phone until high school when things get crazy.

So Emily entered high school this year and got her first phone.  It wasn’t a fancy phone, basic stuff, phone and texting.

When you are a busy, busy teenager having your phone with you is a must.  I need to know when to pick you up, where to pick you up and bring you stuff, and all the other million things we will both need from each other.

So why does she forget her phone an average of 3 times a week?  So very frustrating.  I feel like I am constantly asking her if she has her phone when she leaves the house and you know how teenagers love to be nagged.

Yesterday she forgot her phone, AGAIN.  It was time for a serious consequence.  I thought of all the usual stuff:  grounding her won’t work because she enjoys being home reenergizing; taking away her ipod, xbox, and computer won’t work because she doesn’t use the first two often and she is a very good student and is usually only on the computer to do homework; you can’t send a girl to her room when there are books in the room; it’s hard to send a high school kid to bed early when she has so much homework.

So I had to get creative, which I did.  Although, Em is quite alright with me wearing my pajamas around town she is not thrilled about me walking the halls of the high school.  Dropping things off at the office is fine, and I usually try to only do that when the kids are in class.  But walking around the school with all the kids around she’s not ok with.

Consequence for forgetting her phone?

I will wear my bright blue penguin pajama bottoms to school and walk right into the cafeteria to deliver the phone to her.

The boys we carpool with said they are super excited they don’t have the same lunch period because they know I would give a shout out to them.  Smart boys.

Last night I noticed a sign on the front door with only one word.  Phone.  Walking around the house I noticed some more:  inside and outside the garage door, front room closet to see when she gets her shoes and jacket, the outside of her purse, the pantry door, and my personal favorite, on the cheerios container along with the note to take her vitamin.  I’m sure there are more, but I just haven’t found them yet. 

I’m thinking this consequence might work.  She knows I’m nuts enough to do it.