Point taken

I know we live in the world of constant communication with phones and iPads, blah, blah, blah but this is getting ridiculous! And I’m just as guilty of it as anyone else. I basically don’t go anywhere without my phone. It doesn’t hang in the shower with me and sometimes I leave it in the house when I mow, but that’s only if I don’t want to listen to music. The phone is essentially just an extension of my person, like a 5th limb. And if I don’t have it or can’t find it, it’s like a part of me is missing and I’m not settled till it’s reattached. Pretty sad, I know!

But with a busy family and busy career, I like to have the phone with me at all times, just in case. However, I grew up knowing what it’s like not to have one so I can survive without if I must. And I don’t depend on it for all my communication. I actually know how to drive over to someone’s house and knock on the door. Or I can email someone and then just wait for a response. I’m totally dependent on the dang phone but on the same hand, I can let go if need be.

However, it’s been confirmed that my teenage daughters cannot function without it and I’m not sure would know what to do if dropped in a field in the middle of nowhere without a phone. Would they just stand there and wait until someone realizes they’re missing or would they have enough sense to actually go find help? Get off of their duffs and try and survive. I honestly am not sure and that’s even sadder!

For example, last night, about bedtime, I’m folding clothes in the laundry room, my phone on the top of the dryer, and it starts ringing. I look at it and the caller is my oldest daughter. My mind is wondering, did she butt dial me? Certainly, this was an accident? Because she was in her room doing homework, which is literally on the other side of the laundry room in which I was standing. We were exactly one wall’s width apart from each other and … she … called … me! So I answered it thinking this had to be an accident. But nope! She said, “Ya, do you know the last four digits of my social security number? I need it to sign in for college classes. Or can you run upstairs and find it for me?” We stood there and had a conversation like she was out of town and I was home. And I continued talking to her, like an idiot. I was basically confused and shocked we were actually on the phone in the same house, on the same level of the home, one room away from each other. Someone should have slapped me!!

THEN … it got worse, since I obviously haven’t memorized the entire family’s social security numbers, I actually went upstairs, found the numbers and then texted her … from the kitchen. Not once did I think to march in her room and demand she get her lazy behind up and go get the darn numbers herself. I just played along like a circus monkey. Duh!!! After I realized how stupid I was, I went to bed and complained to Hubby before we shut out the lights of how ridiculous she was to CALL me in the house, and how these girls do this to me all the time, text me from the bathroom or their bedroom asking, “Come here please!” and when I rush in there, thinking there’s some emergency like the bathroom is flooding or their boyfriend dumped them, it’s only because they forgot to grab their pajamas or they need help deciding what outfit to wear to school.

They act like we live in some mansion or something that’s too big to walk or yell if you need something. Why would they want to actually get up or walk anywhere? As I finally stopped belly aching about how lazy our kids are, Hubby kindly replied, “But you do it.

They text or call you and you come running.” And closed his eyes and went to sleep. Hmmm, point taken…..