… sometimes I wonder how she manages to keep both shoes on her feet.
Two weeks my 15 year old lost her mobile at school (she’s not allowed to have it on at school and if we notice a call during school hours she would go without for a week).
We made a deal with her about the mobile. If she lost it or broke it it was up to her to replace it OR pay the fees, about $10 a month for her line, until the contract is up.
So, when she lost it we found a new replacement would cost about $125. That’s money she just doesn’t have. My wife managed to get a mobile through her work for free except the cost of shipping and activation - about $20.
Good deal for my daughter.
It arrived yesterday and I called and had it activated. She spent the night getting all the numbers programmed in and fussing with it happy in the fact she’s got her mobile back.
Today she’s leaving for school and my wife says “don’t lose your phone”. My daughter laughed and said how stupid she’d feel if she lost it again.
Are you getting an idea where this story is going yet?
She left a message on my wifes mobile today that said sheepishly “you… um… better call and… um… put the account on… umm… hold again”
That’s right. 5 hours after leaving the house this morning the phone was gone.
Wow. I don’t know your daughter, so I don’t know if she’s usually careless, but I do know that there’s a lot of theft at my daughter’s school. Is it possible that she’s not so much “losing” the phones as having them taken out of her bag?
My daughter is fifteen as well, and believe me, careless and oblivious are behaviors I’m familiar with. She also has an interesting way of prioritizing. I’ll spend ten minutes yelling that she’s late while she looks for her mp3 player, because god forbid she should have to make the three minute walk to and from school without music. After she finds it and leaves, I’m likely to have to chase her out the door with her housekeys. :smack:
I did this once when I was sixteen. Not with a cell phone, though.
We’d had a writing conference at the local community college. It was an all-day affair. I left my jacket on one of the seats in the hallway, and forgot to grab it when I left to go home. By the time I got back, it was gone.
So, okay. My folks get me a new jacket. . .
. . .which I immediately lose by leaving in the cafeteria during finals.
I can’t remember if I got that one back or not; it was so long ago–I think I might’ve. But, wow, did I feel stupid.
OMG! The memories this brings back reminds me of why I am SO happy mine are now in their 20s and on their own. Course, all those years of tending to brain cells drowning in hormones has left me just a dried out husk.
No deals for this replacement.
Make her work for the $120. Offer her job around the house set pay for each. As in mow the lawn $5-10 or paint a room for $50 (up to you what jobs and the pay should be fair but not a walk over. In other words you should not offer $100 for mowing the lawn (Unless you own a golf course.)
I’ll bet $5 that after doing without for a month or so while she earns the money, she does not lose that one.
My son did not lock his bike and it got stolen. I made him go layaway a new bike and go make payments each and every week from the money he earned.
He never lost that bike.
Course, all those years of tending to brain cells drowning in hormones has left me just a dried out husk. 
