Unplugged

Well, it seems the inevitable has finally happened at our house this weekend.  The first of the month has come and gone and Savannah was unable to come up with the $30 required to keep her iPhone.  I knew she didn't have the money because I was the one who took her shopping earlier in the month so she could spend the billions she had earned while babysitting.  She had an extensive list and was very careful to combine gift cards with sales so that her dollars would go a little farther.  She even used $10 of that money to buy a birthday present for her sister!  I was so proud of her frugal-ness (frugality? frugalism?? frugalicity???) and watched in awe as she crossed one thing after another off her list.  She even remembered to take the amount for tithing out of her wallet before we left so that she wouldn't be tempted to spend it.  When she's responsible and has good intentions like that, it's sometimes hard to follow through on the rules we've set up around here.  

Yesterday morning it was even harder because she had had such a BAD morning at Seminary.  She was grumpy and complainy at breakfast.  And then when I asked her what was wrong she burst into tears.  It's hard to be a 16 year old girl.  We had a long talk and she was almost late for school, but it was worth it.  And on the way to school, I found myself conflicted about whether to bring up the phone thing or just let it go.  Did I really want to kick her when she was already down??  But somehow, a small window opened and I slipped in a non-emotional, non-judgy...

"Do you have the $30 for your phone this month?"

"Nope..."

"OK well, while you're at school today you might make other communication arrangements with your friends and warn them that you'll be out of service for awhile.  And then you can give it to me tonight when you get home."

And then I waited...

nothing...

no tears...

no arguing...

just...

"OK"

and that was it.

I did have to remind her a couple of times to actually give me the phone after school yesterday.  But it is currently tucked away somewhere in my room until she can come up with the ransom for its release.  

And guess what happens when a teenager is unplugged...

they read stuff...

they dance...

they clean...

they have sleepovers with their sisters...

I'm kind of secretly happy that she didn't have $30 this month and I'm kind of secretly hoping she won't get any babysitting jobs anytime soon.  Later this week when we're trying to coordinate after school happenings, I may not love this as much, but for the weekend, I'm going to thoroughly and completely enjoy time with my daughter's full, undivided, non-texting, Instagram-less attention.