My brother and 2 sisters and I had a blast planning my mother's 70th birthday party. We come from a very corny family that loves to sing together so keep that in mind when reading what we did. We all dressed the same--light green tops and white bottoms. Kids, spouses and grandkids. Why? Because we did a skit. It was fashioned after a Bill Cosby Show episode and was called, "When Mom Was my Age." It took quite a bit of research. We lined up oldest to youngest and stepped forward one by one to say, When Mom was my age the year was 1980. Ronald Regan had just been elected president for the first time, Charlie's Angels was the number one show on TV (here my sisters and I adopted the Charlie's Angels huddle with guns that's their 'trademark'), and a gallon of gas cost $1.10. Then the next youngest (my sister) stood forward. At one point we all hummed the theme from Star Wars, another point we all did the Hustle. We tried to get as much sound and movement into each person's fact recitation as possible. Each of us said 2 facts about the times and ended with the cost of a gallon of gas. It took a lot of prompting to get our 4 year old neice to say her lines at the end (a gallon of gas was around 24 cents) but the whole thing was a big hit. We also did a Powerpoint presentation to music. My mother's childhood photos to In My Life by the Beatles, her early married life to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, pictures of us growing up, getting married, the grandchildren to Through the Years by Kenny Rogers. On the tables we had small Hershey candies with computer made wrappers with photographs. For favors, each guest got a larger sized Hersey Bar with a photo of them with my mother at some point in life with the words, Thanks for sharing Connie's birthday. The table numbers were made from an enlarged black and white photo of her from a beauty pagent in her early 20's. We glued them to foam board, secured them to bases and put them out like a large paper doll holding a number and stood one on each table. My parents taught us songs to sing in the car for long rides. My siblings and I did a corny rendition of Down By the Old Mill Stream with fake moustaches after a funny story about how my father dealt with us in the car. My SIL made a big scrapbook with contributions from all the party guests. It took her over 6 months to gather the photos, stories and rememberences from everyone. My husband, a radio DJ, was MC and kept the day flowing smoothly. All in all, we had a terrific time. Everyone was entertained, well fed and my mother still brings the party up when we're together. She says she watches the DVD of the party every once in awhile, too.

Arcy, I don't know if they still sell them but we bought ds13 a phone at Sam's. When my oldest got an iPhone (ugh…that's another story), we gave her basic phone to ds, mainly for him to use if he was out somewhere and needed a ride, etc. He didn't really "need" the phone but it was only an extra $10 to my bill (first two phones on our account are regular price, whatever, like $40/each, but then additional lines are only $10). His phone is only for calling/texting, no websurfing/etc. Well, shortly after we gave it to him, he had it in his pocket while we were at a lax tournament. He brought it down to the hotel pool where there was a team party going on and a friend pushed him into the pool. We tried to save the phone, but had no access to rice/etc right away, so it died. I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, but didn't need a new phone, so I used my upgrade to get him a new phone at Sam's Club. The salesgirl was easily able to use my upgrade for his phone, so it cost like $1 for the phone and she linked his phone number to it. Funny thing is… he NEVER uses the phone. He never remembers to bring it with him. If he does remember, it typically is out of battery b/c he forgets to charge it, or it's turned off for school and he doesn't remember to turn it on. As a result, I almost never can reach him on the darned thing. He really wants an iPhone b/c all his friends have them, but he does not need one. He is required by his school to have an iPad so he has all the features of the iPhone as long as he has wifi. So, no iPhone for him b/c he does not need 24 hr access to the internet…he can use his iPad at home, at school and even at Starbucks LOL. Wearybuilder, I'm sure there must be other options for you, like a pay as you go phone or whatever…the kind you buy minutes for. I do know that when I added dd to my account, it did cost about $40/mth for her line, and that was just for unlimited texts and calls. That is with Verizon-first two lines cost the same, then any additional are only $10 on the plan I have. Dh's phone is paid for through his work, so I sucked up the $40 to add her. Now she has an iPhone so she has a data plan also that adds to the price, but when I added the third line for ds, it was only $10 for him. Incidentally, when I went to get the iPhone for dd, I went to the Verizon store. They would only sell me this package deal that came with all these accessories she didn't need. They said they were required to sell them that way! I knew that I could easily get an iPhone from the Apple Storeand told them so, but the Verizon guys said their hands were tied. So they lost a sale. I went to Apple and bought the phone there (she was due an upgrade so I didn't have to pay a fortune for the phone). The downside was that by buying from Apple vs. Verizon, she couldn't keep her phone number and had to get a new one and it wasn't a good number. I kept her old number anyway b/c I knew I'd be using it for ds but his voicemail still has dd's message on it b/c she can't remember the password to change it, LOL.

Kay.... Going through the teen years can be like the terrible two's but with a much larger child! It can last for years. Don't get discouraged. I have a DS16 and just trying to have, what I consider, a normal conversation with him can sometimes make me want to stick hot pokers in my eyes....or his. It might be a good idea to talk with him at a time that is calm and remind him what the rules are. I have tried to lay down some sentences that I can say to DS16 during a discussion or disagreement that can remind him of the rules....Such as...."Remember who you are speaking to."...."You need to lower your voice."....."Your tone of voice sounds disrespectful to me." and so on. Sometimes he doesn't even know that he is loud or that I think that the way he is saying something in bothering me. All of that being said....do what you can to rule out the things that we all fear as parents of teens....alcohol or drug use, inappropriate internet use, depression, becoming sexually active. I'm sure I have left things out but you get the message. This day and age is tough. I feel for these kids. All the more reason to not let go of your house rules when it comes to respect and safety for the teens. Discussing with him some changes that he might like as he matures is an option. Stress the "As he matures" part. He needs to learn to handle his anger, talk about his feelings and still follow the rules. Each one comes to a calmer place at a different time. Some take a long time. The hard knocks of life can be the only teachers for some kids. Parents lose IQ points big time when their kids hit their teens. I wouldn't rule out getting him into see a counselor if you feel his anger is beyond control. Some kids can't talk to their parents and a third party can really help. It doesn't mean that their is something wrong with him. His brain and his body are on mega drive right now. Watch how he grows in the next few years!....I have heard that every growth spurt, whether it be mental or physical is preceded by an emotional time of turmoil. I think that is true when a child is entering into the just beginning to walk months and the teen years. Just fasten your seat belt. The ride will be bumpy at times. It is a good thing that God gives us these kids as sweet little babies. If we got them as teenagers they would likely mysteriously disappear...or we would. I remember thinking, when my DD20 was a teen and she would be mouthing off to me...."You know child, you are standing way to close with your back to those stairs to be talking to me like that."...Of course I would never push her but a bit of a sense of humor helps!!!

Do you have any ideas as to what she enjoys? Does she play with a lot of dolls, if so maybe some doll clothes or other accessories. Maybe some fun educational games--either a computer game or just a board game. Stuffed animal Dress up clothes Movie tickets--if she hasn't seen something like Monster's Inc.--?? Favorite video and some favorite snacks