Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The "Pre-Teens" Are Here...

It's official. The Princess has completely turned into a pre-teen. Remember when I asked your opinions about getting her a cell phone? Yeah, that has been put on hold; she's having a problem with being responsible in certain aspects of life. Her homework is still being done on time, she has no problem getting herself up & ready for school, or any of that... What she has a problem with is remembering to call or text (from a friend's phone) when she's staying at the school (AV Club, playing with a couple friends, etc), and being home on time when I do let her stay to play.

For the record, the other two incidents were minor (she was told to be home at a certain time, after hanging at the playground after school, but left the school at that time, instead -- minor, but you have to earn the right to have a time-cushion), but she had been warned that the "next time" she was irresponsible like that, there would be major consequences.

Yesterday was the third "strike" so-to-speak. She was supposed to text Ace's cell to let him know if she was staying for AV Club or not (they've spent the last four Mondays & Tuesdays making an anti-drug/alcohol mini-movie). He went out to where we normally meet her... 5 minutes... 10 minutes... 15 minutes. He then walks the rest of the way to the school & texts me (I was at work) asking if I'd heard from her. I said, "No... Text K's phone."

At this point, I'm kinda mini-freaking out (Ace said he was only really irritated, but I think he was a little worried at first, too... after what her bio & SM did...). A few minutes goes by and he texts me back, letting me know he was at the school and saw her "skip by" inside (she didn't see him, apparently), then K texted him back to say that Princess was on her way home.

She beat him by a few minutes, so when she got home, she called my cell; half-crying ('cuz no one was home) and half-worried ('cuz she knew she was in serious trouble for not calling/texing). I told her that Ace was probably on his way back, 'cuz he had gone to the school looking for her, yes, she was in big trouble, and "I'm sorry; I forgot" doesn't cut it.

By the time I got home, Ace hadn't decided on a punishment, so we discussed it and decided that "third strike" meant no cell phone for a while (we'll revisit it after her Canada trip this summer) and no more staying after school for anything non-school related for the rest of the school year. For a kid who rarely gets into trouble, quite frankly, I'm surprised!

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