Kids Are Not Allowed on Cellphones in My Car

I am the mean mom. The one that elicits groans from my children's’ friends when I politely, but firmly tell them there are no cellphones allowed in my car.

When my oldest turned 10, all of his friends started to get phones and they wanted to flip through the latest memes or text their friends or play music (when the car radio was already on) or play games while not speaking to each other while I drove them to practices, games, and school activities. There was a brief period of time where I allowed this behavior.

But growing tired of feeling like an unpaid cab drive, I started to say no. Every time. There are no phones allowed in my car.

Outside of work, half my time is spent driving kids around to various activities and coordinating carpools with our myriad of working parent friends.

While one can question the life choices that have led me to have multiple children involved in competitive sports, here we are. And here are all their friends who they have made through the same activities.

Each of my children has their own cellphone because they are left at sports activities without us so that I can run another child to another activity. In the event of an emergency, they need to be able to reach us. Same holds true for all of their friends.