Cell Phones

I’ve been working on my sweetie for a while now and I finally got my way…now I’m starting to wish I hadn’t. You know the Dog Walker is 17 years old and autistic. Other than the fact that he can be somewhat irresponsible, he seemed to me to be the perfect candidate for a cell phone. The problem is that we already have 5 phones on our current plan and there was not an option for any more. That ended the discussion. Sort of. Until Bossy got a new phone plan and new phones. 

She and Gamer only needed two, but they added an extra one and offered it to me for all the younger kids to use. That was working out fine except that 14-year-old Princess thinks she really is one and dominated the phone with her contacts, her text messages, her friends…basically her phone. Now anyone with a brain in their head can see that if Bossy can get three phones, then Bossy can get four phones. Unfortunately, my sweetie was not seeing the value of taking advantage of this offer. He didn’t want to pay for another phone. After a couple of months of discussion and just some plain old whining on my part, he finally gave in and suggested that maybe the Dog Walker needed a phone. 

So I called Bossy and asked her to order this nice metallic blue model that was mostly free (ok it was $30.00, but that’s not bad for such a cute little phone). Later that night at basketball practice I asked her if she had time to order the phone. "Mom," she said. "I tried to order the phone. Really I did, but I have a problem." She bounced the basketball a couple of times to make her point. "What is it?" I asked anxiously, thinking that perhaps the phones were sold out or that Gamer had put his foot down. She bounced the ball a couple more times. "The phones are buy one get one free and I just couldn’t do it! I just couldn’t order one and leave the free one laying there on the table." At least I’d taught her something about being a good shopper! 

It took me a week to get up the nerve to mention this to my sweetie. When he finally asked me when the new phone was coming I said, "You know, the funny thing…" I let him draw his own conclusions. The next day he sent me a text, "If I never have to have this discussion about phones again, just get one for the Prima Donna too." So we ordered two phones. "Buy one, get one free," she said. Then she sent me a bill for $82.00. "Well you knew there would be an activation fee," she said. For two phones! The phones came in and they are beautiful. In an effort to save money we blocked all internet access and read them the riot act about going over minutes. 

Like this teenage boy

They were so excited! Prima Donna programmed in all her friends and all Princess’s friends and I think even some of my friends. Crafty set up the other phone. The Dog Walker was nervous. He sent me a text that read, "What if I get in trouble?" and then, "What if I get caught with it?" I told him to put it on vibrate and keep it in his pocket. The next morning was an early day. He has a band class that meets twice a week at 6:00 am. He and his dad left the house at dark-thirty and drove the short distance to the school. I still have my head buried under the covers at that time of day. At 7:45 I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize. I picked up the line, "Hello?" "Mom?" It was my Dog Walker. "I’ve lost my phone," he said matter-of-factly, "Can you ask Dad if I left it in the van?" My stomach started to hurt. He’d had that phone for less than 12 hours and I had a two-year contract! 

I called my sweetie at work asking him about the phone but he must have been in a meeting because he didn’t answer so I left him a message. Did I mention that it snowed six inches during the night? If my son dropped it in the parking lot, that would be the end of it. About half an hour later I got a text from the missing phone, "I have your sons phone any chance of a reward?" First I was relieved, but then I was annoyed. Who does that? Just give the autistic kid his phone back! "Who is this?" I texted angrily. A new message appeared on my screen. "Did I scare you? I figured you would know it was me, but I guess not. Sorry." That second message came from my sweetie’s phone. Who does that? Don't mess with the autistic kid's mom! I guess he won after all.