My oldest daughter Marin looked wistfully out the window the other day and said, "Someday, I wish I could have my own phone."
I thought to myself, "I hear 'ya, sister. Me too."
In our house, there's Dad's phone and "the" phone. I try hiding it at the bottom of my purse and then hear, "Mom, where's the phone? MOM, where's the PHONE!? MOOOOMMMMMM, WHERE'S THE PHOOOONE???!!!" It's less charming than it sounds.
The phone in my name is no more mine than my moments in the bathroom or precious tins of breakfast sardines. (The grocery man only brings 5 per week and when they're gone, they gone. Sigh.)
Anyway, there's their stuff, Dad's stuff, and the common good. When I do get to use the phone, it's not uncommon to find 43 selfies of her pretending to be asleep.
And then this started...
Marin writes in the Notes app. I hadn't realized the extent of her note-taking until the other day when I opened the app to write myself an actual, important note. Okay, it was a Target shopping list but still.
Here are a select few of the 30+ messages I found with my reactions below each.
He’s also so sweaty. I’d back up before he comes in for a post-run hug.
It’d make a long bumper sticker but I like it. Also, it's good to know that you can make stripes in two widths.
There are first world problems and then there are Generation Alpha (kids born after 2010) problems. I have no problem deciding between these emojis because I choose “none of the above.” But, don't let that stop you. I’m just a grouchy, sleep-deprived Gen Xer who doesn’t understand the appeal of a (mostly) body-less animal with creepy eyes.
This little message reminds me of that quote, “Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I” but okay. And grandma has all of the flowers I can think of too. That’s a lot.
Oops. I'll just delete this one before Dad sees it. Let's take a break from “Barbie: Life in the Dream House” on Netflix for a little while.
Did I miss a moon landing? WTF? Random.
Obviously, you haven't yet been introduced to my friend the Oxford comma or commas in general. Punctuation aside, you're right. You're welcome. Now, give me back MY phone! :)
Before writing and posting this, I asked Marin if it was okay to share her notes. She immediately said yes. "In fact," she went on, "That'd be a help. I've been spending a lot of time trying to get you to read these and you always say you're too busy making dinner."
Oh my lord. Is there an emoji for "guilt trip?"