Family on the Phone

Marybeth Hicks from Catholic Mom had a fabulous post about her 6th grade daughter wanting a cell phone and the pressure she felt about giving in to that desire. I appreciated her candor and good humor about the stress we as parents feel when our children try to influence us to give them what they feel they need. She pointed out her daughter didn’t need a cell phone and in fact was better off without one for a while longer.

Aaron Siegel of Chillicious wrote a very informative post on cell phone minutes recently. All too often, we can go over our minutes, especially on a family plan. Aaron explained how to convert minutes into hours for each family member and add them up to determine how many minutes you actually need on a plan. This will save you money on your bill in the long run. Speaking as someone who’s gone over my plan more times than I can count between me and my teen, I took notes. Good job Aaron!

Julie Rains from Wisebread recently posted about living without a landline. She included step-by-step instructions on how to cut the proverbial cord. She gives advice on everything from changing all your numbers to using Skype (which is a great service by the way). She was humorous and informative.

The Blog Directory had a great post about using prepay phones instead for teens and others to avoid getting stuck with a large overage bill. They explained just how prepaid phones work with different companies.

Adriana Lee from Phone Dog writes a post about the skyrocketing prices of cell phone plans. She discusses how prepaid phones are no longer looked down upon as they used to be but considered a viable option to higher cell phone prices. Her many points about cutting expenses by cutting out extras such as texting, internet and phone gadgets are well thought out and informative.

Recently, we did a family cell phone survey. One question we asked was regarding rules you had laid down for your kids and their cell phones. Do any of these rules sound like rules you have in your own home?

Some rules were related to safety.

• No driving and texting
• No answering calls or texts or calls from unknown numbers.

A few rules were about school or church.

• Phones taken away if grades drop or school work not completed
• No using the phone on the bus or at school except for emergencies
• No taking the phone to church

Many parents are teaching their children responsibility with rules regarding their cell phones. This includes using the cell phone after a certain time in the evening.

• If parents call, they must answer
• They have responsibility to monitor minute usage; if they go over, they pay the difference
• Limited downloads; only with prior permission
• No obscene texting, phone calls or pics
• If grounded, cell phone is the first thing to go
• Parents can examine phone and/or records at a moment’s notice
• No going to bed with cell phone in the bedroom-phone stays on charger downstairs or in parents room
• No cell phone after X time at night
• No texting or phone calls during dinner
• Time limits on phone calls-no marathon calls
• No letting friends borrow the phone

Thank you for your participation in our survey. Look for more resulting blogs from the survey coming up.

I got a rather strange text message the other day, or I should say a series of text messages. Apparently, my cell phone is not happy. It is issuing an informal protest.

Let me explain the circumstances which led up to this dispute between my phone and I. In November, I stopped working the two jobs I was working outside the home and began several ventures on the computer from my home. Recently, I bought a new laptop.

Back to the present and my cell phone. Here is the dialogue between my phone and myself. Excuse the text lingo.

• Cell, “Don’t U luv me anymore?”
• Me, “Of course I do.”
• Cell, “U let me go dead in ur purse 3 times this week and pay more attention to ur new laptop than me.”
• Cell, “Not to mention, U never take me anywhere since U stopped working outside the home.”
• Me, “I don’t mean to ignore U, but I get more calls on the house phone now.”
• Cell, “Don’t even get me started on the house phone.”
• Me, “Brb, phone call.”
• Cell, “Argh! C what I mean?”
• Me, “Ok, back. What can I do 2 make U happy?”
• Cell, “Easy. Use me more often. Charge me every day. Take me on outings with the kids.”
• Cell, “Maybe download a few ringtones and games. What could it hurt?”
• Me, “ok ok. For U. I will. All Better?”
• Cell, “:) yes.”

Who knew a cell phone could get cabin fever? Can technology get jealous of other technology? It happened to me. You’d be wise to learn from my experience and avoid the theatrics.