Forgive me in advance if I offend you but I'm here today to instigate your cell phone intervention/etiquette. Don't have a cell phone? Then you are excused. The rest of you stay put.



I recently bought a smart phone and while I am the first to say they really shouldn't sell smart phones to dumb people, I am loving all the bells and whistles my grandkiddos have taught me to use. But thee best invention in cell phone technology, in my opinion, is still text messaging. I love love love texting. My husband repeatedly asks, "wouldn't it be easier to just call?" No it would not. I am a social reject and texting allows me to avoid social pitfalls.



I consider myself a fairly forward thinking granny. In a recent conversation with other old ladies regarding the appropriate age for children to own a phone, I was the lone defender of kiddos having phones. I love that several of my grandkids have their own phones. It helps an old granny feel connected to their young lives to send or receive a text from them.



Cell phone technology is amazing but are you a slave to your phone? Does your phone own you or at least 90% of your time and attention? "No!" You say? Do you carry it absolutely everywhere with you? Are you frantic when you lose it? Do you text while driving? Have you ever put your kids with a variation of this statement?: Mommy will help you stop the bleeding as soon as I answer this text, try to not cry so loudly so I can concentrate on what I need to say sweetie." Do you answer texts while on a date night or at family gatherings? Does the idea of turning your phone o-f-f make you shudder? Are you rolling your eyes and muttering "what's your point old woman?"



The point is that technology has subtley crept in and taken over our lives. When I got my first cell phone it was never a consideration that my children would have one. Not surprisingly times have changed and everybody and their six year old owns cell phones. Great concept, just not well thought through. Along with the users manual the manufacturers should also have included the basic cell phone ettiquette manual. I have taken it on myself to develop a list of instructions regarding cell phone manners. Let me know if you think it's too harsh.



1. It is never okay to leave your phone on, much less text while at a movie. This includes a family movie night in front of a t.v. it irks me that I need to tell you this.



2. It is never okay to text and drive and if your kids are in the car while you are doing this they should be removed from your home by Childrens Services because you are endangering all of your lives and the life of every person in the cars you pass by. It really irks me to have to say this.



3. Yes it will hurt your mom/gma's feeling if while visiting said matriarch you spend the entire visit texting with your boyfriend, business partner, local florist, orthodontist.....



4. Always leave the phone in the house while playing outside with your kids.



5. The sun will come up in the morning if you turn your phone off for short periods of time.



These are my top 5 but surely you get my drift. I must not be the only one out there feeling sensitive about the lack of manners. There was a recent episode of Dateline on this very subject. Check out hulu.com or nbc.com to tune in. They interviewed kids ages 5-15ish. When they asked the kids how it made them feel when mom was always on her phone one of the little guys said, " It makes me feel like I'm not important to her." Ouch.



We are our children's example. How we set our limits or lack there of is going to be what our children default to when they are phone users. I get what the Dateline kids were saying. I've been on the receiving of what I'll call the cell phone snub.



My challenge to whom ever this may apply is this: Hang it up, put it down, or turn it off. I double dog dare you to do as I say............... buy bye.



{Editor's Note: While she swears this post isn't about me... uhhhh it was... and I'm torn, part of me wants to say bite me I'm not that bad... but then I have to wonder why I'm so defensive... darn moms think they know everything!!!}



On that note... we want to hear what you really think... in honor of my coffee Nazi mother, I will buy one random commenter (who also has to be a google follower) a gift card for one coffee from the stand/company of your choosing!