I’ve recently been reminded that keeping up with the Joneses begins at a very tender age. Just cast yourself back to fifth grade. Remember telling your mom how you “have to have” a pair of Jordache jeans because “everyone has them”?

Well over the last several months, my own fifth grade son has unleashed a rather aggressive campaign trying to persuade his father and me that he “has to have” a cell phone because “everyone has one!” Ugh!

We have, of course, countered his begging-and-pleading requests with practical rebuttals like: “You never talk on the phone at home, so why do you need a cell phone?” When he tries to play the in-case-of-emergency card, we very reasonably state: “You don’t need a cell phone to reach us because we’re either with you or you’re in school and the school can call us.”

He’s even offered to pay for the phone with his own stash of cash when we’ve chalked it up to being a “waste of money.” This forces us to continue our stroll down Sensible Street by pointing out that it’s not just the cost associated with attaining the device, but also the significant financial commitment to making monthly payments for a calling and/or texting plan.

Bottom line? The cold, hard facts are clearly on OUR side. But colder, harder peer pressure is definitely on HIS side. (Other kids have disbelievingly confronted him with, “YOU don’t have a CELL PHONE?!?”)

So I gotta ask you other moms…do your kids have cell phones? If so, at what age did they get the phone and why?

Last 5 posts by Cre8iveMom

• Rulin' the School! - September 23rd, 2010
• A Nod to Mama Grizzly - September 30th, 2010
• Concerned Neighbor or Hysterical Housewife? - October 7th, 2010
• Don't Judge Me By My Grocery Cart! - November 5th, 2010
• Shhh. I'm hibernating in here. - January 25th, 2011