Because I’m an obsessive worrier over details, I already have a to-do list for the Tall Kid’s trip to Quebec City in April. Yes, April. At the rate I’m already fretting about this trip, I anticipate spending much of March in the fetal position.
The top two items on my to-do list: 1) Getting Mr S a passport. If TK sends an SOS from Canada, I don’t want any red tape keeping us from getting to him. Since I never intend to leave the country again, but Mr S snowmobiles up around the border, he’s the one with the bad Walmart photo. And 2) the cellphone situation.
Because I apparently put the owner’s manual in a Very Safe Place, I’m not sure if TK’s Tracfone works in Canada. I don’t think it does, which would make it very difficult for him to send an SOS. I very much hate the Tracfone because of the sheer amount of of sales pitch crap it bombards the phone with, but the price is right. $20 every three months is one helluva bargain that works for his usage.
Because he doesn’t like talking on the telephone, his usage consists of the occasional to text to me. What does he text?
hc
That’s all his text says, but let me translate it for you:
History Club is meeting after school, so I’ll be late getting home. I love you. You’re the best mom ever and, even when I’m grown and have a wife and kids of my own, I’ll still come home to you every Christmas.
Isn’t he a great kid?
I could solve the problem by adding him to our Verizon plan, of course. But since he’s a texter (even if it’s only 2 letters), that’s $20 per month instead of $20 every three months. Because of three days in Canada. If it was only a Saturday and Sunday, he could maybe take his dad’s phone, but they’re leaving Friday and that’s when all the contractors and customers call with last minute, before-the-weekend crap.
He sure as hell ain’t taking mine. First, because it has a data plan and setting a teenage boy loose in a foreign country with a data plan doesn’t sound like a good idea. (Even though I have no idea if the data plan’s even active in Canada because I haven’t checked because I don’t intend to ever leave the US again.) Plus, he’s just not taking my phone.
By April, I’ll have a shiny awesome phone. As a matter of fact, by the middle of December I’ll probably have a shiny awesome phone. Between my absolute hatred of this stupid BlackBerry Curve 8530 and my disgust at chasing Verizon iPhone rumors around like an Apple Kool-Aid slurping lapdog, I’ve started thinking of December 13th (upgrade date) as Droid X Day. Plus, my husband thinks the creepy, robotic voice saying “Droid” is cool, so maybe his head won’t explode at another round of Ring-Around-the-Gadget.
Fifteen-year-old boy taking my Droid X to Canada? Not bloody likely.
So that’s my current obsession. Any US Verizon folks with experience traveling to Quebec out there? How does the phone situation work?
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Shannon, you’re hilarious.
I’m on the other end, but my Canadian-based phone always works in the US. You just have to pay roaming charges.
I think he’ll be just fine.
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I’m over here laughing at you.
Your kid is going to be fine in Canada. With or without a cell phone.
You’re not going to call him all the time while he’s there, are you?
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It sounds like TK tells you the same things in his texts that my oldest tells me in his.
“k” loosely translated means “OK, whatever you say, Mommy. Because I love you and you’re the boss of me. When I grow up, I’m gonna marry you, cause you’re the smartest, prettiest lady that ever lived.”
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Oh, and he’ll do great. We only heard once from oldest when he was in Australia for 3 weeks, and that’s only cause he ran out of money. But I stand by his texts. “Mom, I need you to reload my Visa” meant “Mommy, I love you. You’re the best mommy ever for letting me go to Australia for 3 weeks, and when I grow up I want to marry you because you’re the smartest, prettiest lady that ever lived. Oh, and you’re the boss of me.”
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I wouldn’t mind roaming charges. It’s only for three days and he’s not really a keep-in-touch kind of kid.
And I probably won’t talk to him at all unless he calls me. Or texts me. Believe it or not, I do manage to keep my anxiety mostly to myself. (Except for online, of course. But I just try to smile and nod at my kids.)
Three weeks would kill me. (And, yes, I know college is in a measly two years, but I’m not thinking about that now. I’m like Scarlet, thinking about that tomorrow.)
Lori, I think we have amazing sons who can say so much with so few words!
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I really wanted an iPhone because I’ve loved and adored my iPod Touch for two years now, but I’m sicking of chasing the Verizon iPhone rumors. And when the big rumored announcement date of Nov 9th came and went, I mentally raised the white flag.
Plus, some people haven’t been happy with the iPhone 4 and a Verizon iPhone would be a whole new technology, so maybe glitchy, too. And I’ve heard a lot of love for the Droid X.
I’m sure, if an announcement’s coming, it would be after Christmas so the current iPhone/AT&T sales won’t stall during the holiday season, and if I upgrade to a Droid X, they’ll come out with the Verizon iPhone in March as rumored, but…I don’t really care anymore. I just want a not-BlackBerry.
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My sister lives in Ottawa and my teen-aged daughter (read minimum of 3000 text per MONTH) wore her delicate fingertips out texting while we were in Canada. I just have a family plan (with 5 – yes, that is F I V E phones) with unlimited texting. We’ve never had a problem in the great white north.
I think that texting is priceless. I assign my children household chores, call them upstairs from the basement and have even grounded them via text messaging.
As with you I think my Blackberry Curve sucks major donkey balls and on upgrade day (1/18/11) I will take the plunge and get a Droid. I am a tech whore so if it’s new and cool I MUST have it.
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My eldest, 16 is currently in France for 11 weeks. I’m in Australia. we skype and email. Last year he was gone for the year as his school has an external year 9 and no phones allowed. we wrote snail mail
I loved the snail mail…I got REAL information. Deep breathes, he’s with a teacher right? First four weeks are the worst and as he s gone four days then i suggest big glass of wine or three on the first night and you’ll sleep right through the rest of his time away.