Sunday, November 21, 2010

Really, A Cell Phone for a Seven-Year Old

Yes, I know, never in a million years did I ever think I would be considering allowing my seven-year old to have a cell phone. But, here's the deal. . .

First, in our compound there are two houses he goes to a lot, one moderately, and three every once-in-awhile. If one friend isn't home, T goes to check in with another friend. I make him come home to tell me whenever he is switching venues, but when T does this it causes a big brouhaha with his little brother, K. You see, K wants to follow T every moment of every day and when T goes to a friend’s house, it’s as if the world has ended for K. So, to see T come and go again is a huge disaster in the making.

Second, we have two very simple, old cell phones from when we were stationed in Portugal, so the phones are older than T. We just need to buy a pay-as-you-go SIM card, and voila T has a cell phone ready to use. If he loses one, likely, then there is cell phone number two. If he loses that one, then it’s over and he clearly is not old enough. Now, we are buying a SIM card for one of the old Portuguese phones so my in-laws have a phone to use for their visit. So, when they leave, we will have a working phone, with a SIM card ready to go.

I’m thinking this means that T will get a cell phone after his Uncle and Grandparents' visit is over. I know, a seven-year old with a cell phone seems a little much. But, let me rationalize just a little bit more, he will ONLY be allowed to use it on our compound to call his Dad or me or for us to call him. Though I can hardly believe it myself, yes, we are really considering giving our seven-year old a cell phone. It must be something they put in the water or maybe I'm just tired hearing K cry every time his brother checks in.

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