The Family Mobile – Yes, We Gave Our 7 Year Old A Cell Phone And…?

The Family Mobile – Yes, We Gave Our 7 Year Old A Cell Phone And…?

We are now officially ‘The Family Mobile” I know. I know. I’ve been against it. He’s only 7. I always say kids should be less plugged in. And, I still feel like that. And no, I didn’t give in because of the begging and arm twisting about ‘All my friends have one’…. We had a couple things come up lately that made us re-think the whole sitch. If he’d had a cell phone and we had been ‘The Family Mobile’  his safety and my sanity were the tipping point. Plus, getting a few $$ back on our tax refund didn’t have me dipping into dollars for bills. We bit the bullet and the whole #MaxYourTax just made sense. ya know? Here’s what we did, follow me for a second….

The Family Mobile – Cell Phone For Kids Checklist

I talked last Spring about how we switched to a cheaper family mobile wireless plan. We saved like 1/2 of what our monthly bill was on our original plan. Which, of course was awesome. We’re still connected and going strong. So far so good, right? Then life pops up and time moves so fast and you have to keep up with it no matter how much you kick and fight against it. Kids and cell phones? Really? It wasn’t me. One of my concerns adding Ethan to our Walmart Family Mobile plan was him having all this access to the internet.  I spend a ton of time on the web working and know exactly what you can accidentally stumble upon.  Crazy scary stuff out there! But you guys!! There’s parental controls!! If I set those up on Ethan’s phone, we both could walk away happy. Ok, so technically, HE was happy. I just had a huge send of peace of mind.

When his bike tire goes flat while he’s a few blocks away, he can call for help. We let him go to the park with his friends (no adults, I was a nervous wreck) last weekend for the 1st time. I tucked the phone in his pocket after giving him a time to be home. We had already practiced how he could hit the ‘call home’ button in an emergency. And… I held my breath. Ya know what? He came home with 2 minutes to spare. My phone never rang with a distress call. He felt like a big kid and I felt like we taught him all the right things and still had some connection while slightly cutting the cord. Win / Win. I will admit, shopping for the phone was quite an… adventure. Experience??

We picked up the Samsung Exhibit phone. And, of course all the essential accessories. He picked out a sturdy case if the phone ever dropped. Accidentally of course. He pinky promised to be suuuper careful after all. And, I even popped for some earbuds. Because. Obviously. It’s been almost 2 weeks since we’ve been ‘The Family Mobile’ and truthfully, I’m learning to be ok with giving a 7 year old a cell phone. He’s growing up. Keeping up with the times. And, I suppose I have to let him. He’s been doing so awesome in school, even getting an award at the assembly this week for his grades. So, we rewarded his with some of our tax return dollars. He deserves it…

Funny side story – I went looking for him the other day because it was time to take a shower before bed. He didn’t answer when I called. Ya know where I found him? Sitting on the toilet. nakie. Playing a game on his cell. Yes. I snapped a picture. No, I can’t post it. I laughed until I had tears. He was not amused. I wonder where he learned that? For real, the #FamilyMobile now!

Do you have the kiddos on your family mobile plan yet?