Raegan's New Cell Phone...

...and why it "sucks", in her words.

Raegan is 11. She's got friends who have cell phones. She's asked (repeatedly, I might add) for a cell phone. We always told her that when she's older, she can have her own cell phone if she has a job, and maintains good grades. Now, mind you, we told her she has to be at least 16. I don't let her go anywhere alone, I don't let her go anywhere that I haven't been, so the need to have one for safety reasons is zilch. Besides that, I just don't believe an 11 year old needs a cell phone.

Fast forward to today. We got a package in the mail from my father-in-law. He does a lot of contests, wins stuff, and gets things he doesn't need all the time. We, in turn, get a lot of stuff from him- things for the kids, for us, etc. Nick got a brand new MP3 player from his dad back a month or two ago. His dad just won a Sony PSP that he'll be getting in a few weeks (rather, the PSP finally arrived, and it'll be sent to Nick in a few weeks).

Back to the point.

So I open this rather unexpected box (he usually tells us ahead of time when he sends stuff), and find the usual oddball things- a bottle of body wash, a box of 0 trans-fat cookies, a box of 0 trans-fat cereal, a bag of pistachios, a small bag filled with shredded money, a treasure chest box game thing, and a brand new Sprint cell phone.

Well, not BRAND new. He's had it sitting at his house for a few years, and keeps meaning to send it, never did, etc. It's an older model (hence the whole few years remark), and it's not compatible with the SIM cards in our Nextel phones, so it's useless to us. I checked ebay- they sell for roughly $1.99 through buy it now- IF they sell at all.

During all of this, Raegan is literally chomping at the bit to get to it, insisting I call Papa Mike now, because she's dead certain he meant for HER to have her OWN phone finally. I just rolled my eyes, and talked with Nick.

After discussing it, we decided Raegan could have it. Note I said she could have the phone, and never mentioned service for it.

I sat paitently by while she yipped, yapped, and jumped for joy, then as she ran off, I called her back. I told her she hadn't asked the right questions yet. She had no clue what I meant, so I just smiled and said, "Honey, what's your new phone number?"

She got all giggly and said, "Oh yeah, what is it? I want to call my friends!" That's when I burst her bubble, in the way only an amused mom can do it, and told her that she has a cell phone, but she'll have to save up her own money to get service- when she's in high school. She was less than amused. But that hasn't stopped her from walking around hugging it like a treasured stuffed animal all day.

In fact... here's the YouTube clip I made of her.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=73qwke5De3M