cell phones

Aaron has been begging for a cell phone for several years now. A girl in his class in 3rd grade had a cell phone and he wanted one. I would gently remind him that I was not her parent, but that I was Aaron's parent and we make the rules that we think are appropriate for our family and in 3rd grade we didn't feel he needed a cell phone. That was my mantra for grades 4 and 5 too. I also would ask him who did he need to call and when would he ever not be with me or dad or an adult who has a phone to use. I figured until he had a legitimate answer to that question I was off the hook. But the begging kept coming. One Saturday about 2 months ago, we were shopping in Wal-mart and walking past the electronics. We stopped at the cell phone display because we looking at replacing my husband's cell phone. Again the begging started. Why can't I get a cell phone. I'll pay for it as he looked at all the signs that said free or $9.99. I have often explained (and did again that day) that you don't really get the phone for free because you have to make a 2 year commitment to pay the monthly bill and until he had a job, he couldn't get one. Then I flippantly said, if you can save up the money you can buy a prepaid phone. For my son whose pockets burn every time there is a dime in his pocket, I figured I was off the hook and the begging would stop. Au contraire, he was determined to save the money and Jenna even jumped on the band wagon! So we agreed, if they saved the money to buy a phone and the minutes they could buy phones.

Allowances came and went and I often wondered if the phones would be forgotten. They compared notes regarding how much money they had and how many more weeks of allowance it would take to have enough, but then something sparkly would attract their attention and money would be spent. Finally this last weekend, they each had enough to get a phone. So we headed back to Wal-Mart and contemplated over the $10 or $15 phones and how many minutes to buy. After an agonizingly long time, decisions were finally made and we headed home. They immediately added people to their contact lists, Jenna shot off text messages to several people and Aaron patiently waded through all the ring tones to get just the right one.

So I don't know if we are adding to the "it's all about me" attitude and I never thought I would have a 3rd grader with a cell phone, but I anticipate that after the newness of having a phone wears off I will someday find the phones in between couch cushions or tossed aside on a dresser or with no minutes left on them. But I said what I meant and I meant what I said, if they saved up the money and bought the phones themselves, they could have the phones.