Can You Hear Jon Now?

As my oldest son goes into middle school there is one thing he wants more than world peace.

A cell phone.

A cell phone with unlimited texting and internet access.

A smart phone.

A phone smarter than his parents.

It seems like a reasonable request on his part.

Except Jon has unreasonable parents.

Parents who are making him pay for his own cell phone.

Parents who have talked to other parents and are not allowing a middle-schooler unlimited access to the world wide web.

Parents who are making him pay a portion of his allowance towards the cell bill every month on a phone that only rings and texts.

We get it.  The way people communicate have changed drastically since Rich and I were kids. 

(For example, the thing I wanted more the anything in the world when I was in middle school was a phone in my room, or barring that, call-waiting. For the record, neither one happened.)

What hasn't changed since Rich and I have been kids is that it really stinks when the stuff you pay for with your own money breaks or you lose it.  Our kids know this first hand.

We're under no illusions in this house:  It's a convenient luxury for Jon to have a cell phone. 

However, it will be nice to text him when it comes time for him to clean his room. ;)