by Kimberly Jensen
My first son turned 13 yesterday. For each of our children's birthdays we give them a new responsiblity and a new privilege. This time, the privilege and the responsiblity came in the same package, a cell phone. While many of his friends (and many younger kids as well) have been toting cell phones for months now, we made our son wait. My husband and I love to share milestones with our kids by having them look forward to something and making it very special. We gave him the cell phone, but he must wait a year to receive "texting." He was fine with it because he knows he must "earn" the next privilege. Another privilege he received this year was a nice dinner out with just his parents. We went to a fine dining steakhouse where he ordered an appetizer, steak dinner and dessert. He sat with us and shared his first year middle school stories, challenges and struggles. As I listened, I decided that I was the privileged one at his birthday dinner because I got to listen to my now-teenage son share his desires, dreams and thoughts. I also got a new responsibility, raising my son to be a fine young man!
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3 comments:
Love the one-privilege-one-responsibility idea! My next kid's birthday isn't till July, so that gives me 6 weeks to come up with one of each. Thanks!
Kudos for you for being firm about the cell phone privilege. I've seen too many little kids (like 8) with cell phones. 13 is a good age.
And how wonderful to have such a great conversation with your teenager.
I loveyour idea about priviledge coming with responsibility.
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