When I first sat down to write this blog, I originally wanted to talk about puberty and the daily trials that go along with raising two daughters going through it as a single parent, but my thoughts somehow evolved into cell phones for preteens.

Last summer I purchased both of my girls (ages very soon to be 10 and an 11 year old who just so happens to be going on 16...still not sure how THAT happened) prepaid cell phones. We live in a rural area and some of my childrens friends families don't have phones, landline or otherwise so I want them to be able to get a hold of me when they are at their friends house. The phones were meant as emergency phones. Only to call me when necessary (i.e. when something happened and they needed to be picked up early or if I needed to get a hold of them).  It soon became very clear to me that it was not something I could continue to afford as the minutes began to get very expensive since you had to refill them even though they still had minutes to use. In the end it became a nonissue as my youngest daughter went to live with her fathers family for several months (I brought her home because I missed my baby and she belonged with me) and my older daughter only ever went to a friends house that actually had a phone. 

I have to drive my girls to their friends houses because we do live in a rural area and I found out after moving to this area that there are several registered sex offenders in the area. The neighbors place is right around the corner, but it takes close to 10 minutes just to walk over there and I am paranoid and anything can happen in that time period so I drive them.

Now though, my older daughter has recently become close friends with several girls around her age that each have cell phones of their own and suddenly she became a texter. I had thought I had several more years before that happened. I decided that instead of her holding my phone hostage, I would get her her own phone and have it on my plan instead of the prepaid plan. Even though they both had cell phones in the past I am still a little reserved about children having cell phones at that age. 

Several years back a guy I was dating had a daughter who did not like being away from her mother so her mother went out and bought her a cell phone so she had instant access to one another and her mother wouldn't have to go through the ex to get to her daughter. Now their daughter was 7 years old at that time. I considered that utterly ridiculous. Children that age did not need a cell phone when there were more than enough other phones in the household for her to use. Now here I am giving my own children cell phones at ages not much older than that. Granted I have decided that my younger daughter did not need a new phone, her friend around the corner has a phone so we have instant access, but still at 11 does SHE need a phone? I have been struggling with this issue for a while. In this day and age of instant access and much cheaper technology, is it so very wrong still for younger children to have cell phones? If not, when is the RIGHT time? Does it all come down to responsibility? I know my daughter will take care of her phone, I have no worries about that, nor do I have worries about her going over on minutes since we are now on a plan that has so very many of them and free texts, but its the whole age thing I have issues with. Before the phone was for emergencies and "just in case I need to get a hold of you for something" now though it is go ahead you can call your friends and text as much as you want.  

Maybe the real issue I am struggling with is that my baby is growing up and I'm just not ready for that.