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So we converted to an unlimited text plan to save us the headache of docking the boys' allowances repeatedly for going over their text limits. I have concerns about their frequency....they are texting too much. B. fell asleep with his phone in his hand the other night and it was still there when J. woke him up the next morning. That's not good. We could eliminate texting all together? perhaps? Not sure, and would probably require a plan change and the penalties for changing before our 'term' is up...but it's worth considering. It is 'the times' - kids write each other. And they use that 'ring' that adults can't hear. H. tested it on me the other night - and I said I could hear it, but I couldn't. I kept saying I could over and over until he realized what I was doing and turned it off - then when he asked 'can you hear it now?' and I said 'yes', he said 'well, no you didn't 'cuz it's OFF'. Busted. So they can 'hear' someone texting them without an adult knowing. And I WILL be monitoring their use of their phone and from whom during school hours. ANOTHER motherly duty added to the list, one which my own mother never would have imagined ever doing in the 60's and 70's when her kids were growing up. Times they are a changin', as they say. And I'm not sure I 'like' all the changes, but I'm adaptable - and -

On the other hand, they taught me how to use my phone to send texts and it's revolutionizing my relationship with my kids. I can REACH THEM now - and THEY WRITE ME BACK. And for that, it's worth keeping. Though they are texting at school, which they shouldn't...but they do. I wrote to both of them this morning - a quick 'hey, hope your day's going OK and I love you' and they both wrote back right away. Which bothers me on many levels - and then on others, I like it. Liked that it got a response and a relatively cheery one. Liked that I know they HEAR ME tell them I love them and they know I'm thinking of them during a(nother) hectic day. I wrote them both back and said 'be careful - don't get in trbl' (I'm trying to use vowel-less texting as they do) and they both wrote back 'we won't'. And they won't, most likely, because they are INCREDIBLY fast at it. I'm a dinosaur and if I were to be in a position of 'getting in trouble' for using a cell phone when I shouldn't be, I'd be in deep doo-doo 'cuz I was texting them in a class this morning. Silently. And reading their responses. Silently. LOVED IT, though I shouldn't admit that.

Of course, we do have strict rules regarding B. using his phone and driving. He doesn't. He shuts his phone off so he won't even be TEMPTED to pick it up and take a call or read a text. I am triple checking on that practice daily, making him crazy in the process. But I am vigilant about that.

The class was OK. Long. Too much information packed into a quick day and then it leads to the inevitable list of things I'm worried about related to compliance, audits, etc. So there's more on my to-do list, as there usually is after a class.

C U ltr.

(and I'm amused that spellcheck doesn't accept the word 'texting'. It needs an update, apparently).