SD15 has been asking for a cell phone. BM has wasted a LOT of money on SD15 and phones in the last 5 years. Here's what usually happened: BM says, "SD needs a phone!" DH and I say "No she doesn't!" (at ages 10-13) BM gets her one anyway. Around age 13, SD started getting in trouble texting boys. BM lost a lot of money because she put SD on her phone contract, which was wasted once the phone was taken away.

Fast forward to now: SD15 begged for a phone for Christmas. After BM asked for a Kindle Fire and an iPod Touch on behalf of SD15 (which we all know - SD15 wouldn't get to use them, so we'd be buying toys for BM) DH pointed out that a phone would be more appreciated.

BM's only objection was that she wasn't going to pay for it. BM insisted we would have to put SD15 (who lives 1000 miles away) on our phone plan, because she can't conceive of any other way to do things.

So... We got SD15 set up with a pre-paid texting plan. The plan is in HER name. As long as SHE can scrounge up $15/month, she can text to her heart's content. Minutes are pre-paid and 10 cents/minute, and there is NO data available. We'll see how long this lasts. We told SD15 that it might make her mother feel better if she voluntarily gave up the phone at 9pm every day - so BM could read through the texts if she wanted, and so she couldn't stay up all night texting. Those are the rules at our house (same goes for any other internet-ready/communication devices) and they work very well for us.

Here's hoping the Good Idea Fairy doesn't come roost on SD15's shoulder...