She Still Needs Me!

Sometimes, we just have to let go of our principles for a little peace of mind.

As one of our compromises after a particularly hard week, we gave Kristen permission to buy a cell phone. I know. I know. My only excuse is that it was a compromise. It's a really cute lime green number and she loves it. The cell phone came in handy tonight when she called around 11:00 to ask Wes to pick her up at Perkins. I guess all of her plans for a great Saturday night fell to pieces when her friend had a HUGE FIGHT with her sister. They left the house and Kristen called home. I don't like the idea that they decided to walk the 2 kilometres to Perkins, at 10:30 at night but knowing she has the phone and is willing to use it gives me some peace of mind.

When I was a teenager, there were no such thing as cell phones. If we wanted to call home, we found a pay phone. How did our parents do it? Did they worry as much as I do? I used to drive all over the Niagara Penninsula, never thinking that mom and dad might be worried if I wasn't home by midnight.

Nowadays, it seems that everyone needs their own personal phone and I must say that I for one, sleep a lot better at night knowing that Kristen is just a phone call away. When she first got it she told me that I could call her any time I wanted. I responded by saying, "You don't want me calling you when you're hanging out with your friends." She then told me that everyone's mothers call them. As a matter of fact, the only calls that Jordan ever gets are from his mother.

Maybe these independent, *I don't need you mom* teens really do need us and want us. I was surprised when I learned that it is quite acceptable for a parent to call her daughter on a Saturday night when she's at a party. In the last few weeks, she's called me several times in the evening just to let me know that her plans are changing. I kind of like it and for me, it's the peace of mind I have now that makes me know it's good she's got her own phone.