We have a Wii

Alli can't pay rent but she and Boy Wonder are the proud new co-owners of a Wii. I don't want to know how much they paid but it arrived by mail on Friday. They've played a lot Wii this weekend. They take it back and forth between our house and his. I've watched some but haven't played. It looks like fun but I fear at 40, I'm too old and uncoordinated to play and not make a fool of myself.

Cori has spent most of the weekend on the phone. I can't begin to imagine how she can have so much to say to someone. I'd given her permission to have a friend spend the night Friday night. Evidently, no one could. One friend did come home from school with her but she had to be back home by 7:30 PM. That meant I had to drive to the middle of nowhere in the sleet/snow mix to take her home but I did. Almost all day Saturday she was in her room on the phone. She talked so much the battery in the phone died. She would have to come out and let it charge before she could continue talking on it. At one point she dared to say to me, "Since I've been being good can I get on myspace for a little bit today?" Umm....NO FREAKIN' WAY! Let's see....Over 8 months of refusing to follow the rules before she got permanently grounded from myspace. She's "followed all the rules" for 3 days and that's supposed to make up for it all? I don't think so.

I don't know why she asks things like that. I've been very consistent with consequences. The warning was one more f-word on your page and you are off it until you leave my home. She posted the f-word. She's off myspace until she leaves my home. Why is that so difficult to understand? Her attitude baffles me. She's got to learn to live with the consequences of her actions. Police and judges aren't going to care that she spent her childhood in foster care when she's an adult and breaking the law. She sees the consequences as me being "mean" not as me trying to teach her to live within the laws of civilization.

She has been impatiently waiting for her 16th birthday because that is when you can have a cell phone in my house. Of course the rest of the requirement is that you are behaving appropriately in all that you do. She doesn't get that she's not. I ordinarily add the kids to my existing Sprint account. I can usually get the phone for free and it costs $10 a month to add the extra line and share my minutes. I like this because every month I get a print out of who they called and when. If they aren't following the cell rules (calls late at night or during school) I yank the phone and they owe me $12 a month (extra line + tax), for a period to be determined by me based on their attitude and behavior. (Beth lost hers for 6 months once!) Anyway, since I know she's leaving, I'm NOT adding her to my plan. There is no way in heck she will be here a year. Honestly, if she was staying, I wouldn't even consider getting her a phone. It's just going to cause more drama and she's already the drama queen of the house.

I have decided, however, that I think I'll get her a prepaid cell for her birthday. This is her one wish and I hate not to provide it. I figure if I get her the phone and a limited amount of minutes, she can enjoy it while they last and then have to come up with her own way to get more minutes. And, since she's not going to be with me much longer, I won't have to deal with the drama she creates with it. Am I taking the easy way out? Absolutely. I think I've earned at least one easy thing from all my years with this difficult child.