My stepchildren (all 3) pull out their cell phones and text each other at the dinner table. When I noticed that, I waited for the "dinner" to be over and told my dh that I did not want phones to be used during dinner. My biokids don't do that-----he noticed that the next time we had dinner with my children. Not one of them pulled out a cell phone. If they did, they would have been asked to put it away.

My dh does not want to "parent" his kids.

It is the woman in the house that sets most of the moral tenor/rules in the home. Set your rules----don't be afraid of offending the "chidren".

DH took SD13's cell away from her months ago because of failing grades (it was only for quick calls and texting). She moved back in with Uber-Skank, so when the contract came due in June, he cancelled the plan. But when she did have the cell, I had a no cell phones at the table rule too. If her phone rang, she was told to ignore it. If I caught her texting at the table I took the cell away from her. Yes.....I was the mean step-monster. Fortunately both DH and I considered this a common courtesy issue and not a parenting issue, so I had free reign with this one. Plus the phones are all on my plan...... :evil:

Because the cell was only for quick calls and texting, we had put a landline in her room so she could yak with her friends and the Uber-Skank. Now that she's not living with us anymore, DH said why pay for a phone when she's only going to be here 4 days a month? So that's been disconnected too.

Now it's up to Uber-Skank to provide a cell for the SD. SD13 keeps talking it up but we haven't seen the evidence of a cell yet.:)

“Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.”
Michael Caine