My 2yr old great grandson got a CELL PHONE from his father so he can call him at work and send him text messages. Where is that man's brain?

Well......
at least he wants to be involved with his son.
Judy
ps. I do think it's dumb.

Ummm..........wow! I don't even.........

__________________
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

send him text msgs? What 2-year-old can spell to send them or read the ones he receives? They're just learning the ABC song!

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Heh, some of the text messages I have gotten looked like they were sent from a 2 year old. I don't think he could do much worse lol.

And yes I do think that is a silly gift for a 2 year old.

That seems to be pretty common...and crazy! My son works for ATT wireless and he says you would be surpised how many people come in and purchase phones for preschoolers! Most of my kids are 10-11, and only a few don't have cell phones. Many bring them and check them in at the office when they get to school. AND...most of my students have phones A LOT nicer than mine...many have iphones. Go figure.

__________________
If you're not living on the edge, you're wasting space.

Wow what's next blackberrys for newborns???

LOL :-)

my grandson is 4 yrs old and I have a hard time understanding what he is saying, I can not imagine him trying to send text messages

I agree.. that is very odd. My 10 year old does not have one. He is never away from me without an adult present. When he is able to have freedom of going or staying someplace without an adult, I will consider it. We do send him a cell phone when he goes camping with his cousins, just so he can have a mommy call if needed He doesn't stay at practice without me or get dropped off to walk the mall. So he does not need one. My almost 3 year old can not spell or identify most of her numbers.

Never????? (So many question marks because my reply was too short-has to be ten characters)

__________________
Jackie

Music is what feelings sound like._ ~Author Unknown

We are very Rural and it is not like he can ride over to a friends. I have 2 younger kids that have to be watched.. so if they are outside.. so am I. We have 2 lakes near the house and a pool in the backyard.. so they have to be watched closely. If there is not a parent home where he wants to go.. he does not go. When you have had a sibling die as a child from an a bicycle accident... it tends to adjust your feelings of letting them take off. He does not stay home by himself. So maybe not never, but close to it

My 18 month old has sent text messages, and figured out how to turn on the music on my phone. I can only imagine the havoc he'd wreak if he had his own phone.

I can not believe that a 2yr old got a phone. That's insane.

Now, my kids DO have cell phones. (tracphones) my oldest is 13, he is involved in Basketball, soccer, baseball, boy scouts, taekwondo, and goes to HS ball games.
My Dd is 10. She got a hand me down tracphone that she takes with her to Competitive cheer practice, basketball, soccer, cross country and girlscouts. I feel that they both need one, I don't want to have to worry about one when I am driving the other here and there. My son does text and talk to his friends a lot. but my dd, doesn't. Every now and again she will get a text or call or send one herself.

They both got minutes last year 08 for Christmas, my ds had 2200 mins on his phone and still has just at 300. My dd had 1200 mins on hers and still has 800.

__________________

Josieann, the same thing happened to my sibling, so I totally understand where you're coming from.

Rebecca

I was thinking the same thing. Time to cut the apron strings!

Oops just noticed the reason and it's a horrible shame, but still, you have to let him grow up.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Not that long ago I saw a post on freecycle of a person "looking for" a cell phone so her preschooler could call her when he got to school. ??? When my daughter hit 4th grade (she is in 6th now) she was 1 of 3 kids that did not have a cell phone.

__________________
If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! The're about to announce the lottery numbers... - Homer Simpson

I am really shocked at this comment. 10 is awfully young to be without adult supervision. Of course, at practice I drop-off since it is supervised.

I will not buy my kids a cell phone until they are the same age as I was when I got my first cell phone...34.

Rebecca

stupid gift for a kid of that age

I think my dumbest gift had to be MANY years ago from my grandparents. I was 4 and got a hairdryer and an electric blanket. That's what my older cousins (who were teens at the time) wanted and they bought everyone the same thing. My brother was 1 and got an electric blanket and hair dryer.....ridiculous

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

You better sit down before you read this:
Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone - April 1, 2008 - The New York Sun

I think it's great!

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I'm glad it turned out well for her. With my luck, my kid would have ended up in Baghdad. LOL

Rebecca

I got a Snuggie

You win. No, wait. If you were given a Snuggie for your dog, you'd win!

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

My MIL gave her dog a Doggy Snuggie lol I'm not joking it's a 5 lb dog. She said he gets cold they live where it snows a lot of the winter.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

That made me LOL!!!

__________________

I'm trying to remember how old I was when my parent first let me go into Boston by myself. This was a long time ago (late 50's - early 60's) but I'm sure I was not 9 yo. 13 or 14 maybe. Sorry but I think this is dumb. Glad everything turned out OK but I'd never take that type of chance with a child of mine.

__________________

iphones are not that expensive. Besides, if their parents paid for it, I would not care what they had.(long as I don't have to pay...lol) My 15 year old daughter has a very pricey phone, but she paid for it.

__________________
"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

My issue with kids having iphones is that they are essentially carrying the internet around in their pocket, unfiltered, with no "History" button at the top of their browser for a parent to check.

I guess I do care what my kids pay for things. In general - not to be cliche' here - when there are children starving in Africa, I don't feel in sync with my values when my biggest investments are my 'toys'. When my kids make a purchasing decision, the question, "What do I NEED?" is more critical than the question, "What do I WANT?"

My son doesn't absolutely *NEED* a phone at all... but he *wants* to be able to text his friends about what they're going to do later, and to be able to call home (without having to bum a phone from someone else) to report he'll be late, to ask permission to do something etc.

He's currently spending about $12.50/month to have 2000 texts and 100ish minutes of 'talk time' (more than he'll probably use). That seems more than reasonable to me. To fork out another $50/month so he could walk around with the www and a bunch of apps in his pocket would be overkill, IMHO.

He actually *is* saving for a trip to a third world country this summer to do relief work. It's not Africa... but the cliche' does apply to him on a very personal level. He couldn't afford both a hefty cell plan *and* the trip.

What kind is it? My ds is looking at the net 10 phones. The phone is basically free and you have to buy a $30 every two months (minimum)

__________________
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

Jen, it's a Page Plus. It's activated on the Verizon network, and any Verizon phone will work. I purchased a used-but-in-great-shape EnV2 for him on eBay for Christmas. The minutes vary in price depending on how few or how many you buy. They do roll over if unused. The most expensive minutes are $10 for 100, and that lasts for four months... so $2.50/month, essentially, and you'd get 25 minutes. You can buy more minutes and get them for a much cheaper price per minute.

We bought him a bigger minute pack (knowing it will roll over) as part of his Christmas gift, so all he will need to do is buy a $10 PIN every four months. When I did the math and figured out how long the minutes we bought him would last (and figured in the minutes he'll have to buy every four months) I came up with the $2.50/month for 'talk time' - he really barely talks any at all.

The texting is $10.95/month for 2000 texts (but I found a site that sold the 2000 Power Text plan for $10 somewhere, so you don't necessarily have to pay the $10.95 rack rate). Those do NOT roll over.

There is also an Unlimted PowerText plan for $19.95.

When you activate the phone you get about a $6 credit, I believe, and there are sites that have bonus minutes when you buy your PIN from them. I found a good reseller by reading the PagePlus posts on the HowardForums website.

What was nice about it is that he actually could have a phone that did do more than the other prepaid phone companies, that limit you to their phones. His EnV2 has an MP3 player and camera, and it DOES have a browser and he COULD go online with it... but it's certainly not unlimited and would eat into his talk time minutes pretty quickly. He likes the qwerty keyboard.

But... he doesn't have to spend a fortune each month for two years just to have those things. That was the big plus for him.

That sounds perfect for him, his main complaint about the prepays is that he wants a phone with a qwerty keyboard. He's got some Christmas money he can buy a used phone with, but he doesn't want something that's gonna average out to more than $20 a month.

I give him $20 a month for school lunch (pays for 7-10 lunches, depending on what he gets) or he can pack his lunch every morning and save the money. He makes extra mowing lawns, raking leaves, and right now shoveling snow.

__________________
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

Wow I wish that is all I paid for lunch, even if she packs some or comes home it costs me a ton more. Our school has a racquet going on the lunches.

His school lunches run about $2.00 -$2.75. Even if he uses all his money on lunch he's still has to pack about half of his lunches. I can't afford for two kids to buy lunch every day. Average cost when they pack a lunch is usually under $0.50.

__________________
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

Our lunches are like $2.50 and then if they get an extra milk or fruit or cookie it adds up. When ever you question the school they say the kids are getting "a la carte" even though most kids say they aren't. It's ridiculous what the lunch is. I am glad I am down to one at lunch. It is amazing cuz schools around us offer more food, no a la carte and they cost less!

MIL gave DH and I a pretty handmade card with WISH on the outside. In the inside, she wrote "I couldn't think of anything this year. Enjoy!". That was it. DH read it and handed it to me, said our thanks, and thought to ourselves "how odd". Come to find out she meant to put a check in there, but it was still in her checkbook. LOL Too funny and dumb, we had a good laugh about that one!

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips