I Just Called To Say. . .

"I just called to say
'I love you. . .' " - Stevie Wonder


I hate cell phones. Stephen King's new book is about using cell phones to take over the world. Hmmmmm. . .

"Boy, you've certainly got plenty to write about today!" My husband commented.

Well, yes, I do. But the truth is that I also respect my children's right to privacy.

So my dilemma is this: how do I share all of my parenting finesse without betraying a certain someone's eternal groundedness? Ooops, I think I just let the cat out of the bag! My shame us only outweighed by my outrage!

It was really not a huge rule violation, but rather a betrayal of trust, that netted the "Don't even BREATHE for a MONTH!" and later, "No phone or computer for a week."

My husband and I have such different points of reference than those of our kids. . . what I mean is, they are SPOILED! When my parents divorced, I was ten - my husband about the same age when his split - and suddenly, I was a babysitter, cook and housekeeper in addition to being a kid. Oh, sure, looking back on it I was a total snot and really gave my suddenly-single mom a hard time. But there were a few days that my brother and I had to walk to school a mile through the snow. . .for real!

(The worst was when Mom bought us the full-body snowsuits from the Sears Catalog and made me wear it to Jr. High. . . maybe that's why I live in Florida today!!!!)

I digress. . . my kids have never had to hone their "survival" skills the way my husband and I did. Once we were adults (and soon after, parents) we were on our own. But our kids never had to struggle, never missed a meal, never missed a call, never wore a snowsuit.

So when you ask one to turn off the cell phone at nine on weeknights and ten on weekends, then find the offender yakking animatedly at TWO THIRTY in the A.M., it really ticks you off!

It's not like there was any out-of-house sneakage or joyriding in the heisted Mombus with a bunch of friends (that was the last teenager. . . )

I hate cell phones. I really do. And now I have to leave. . . as soon as I find my phone. . . can't leave home without it, you know, in case Stevie calls. . .

"And I mean it from the bottom of my heart!"