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.

Well, I'm the mother of a 6 yo girl and I am sometimes surprised by the things she says and does that seem very adult-like. Mine has been talking about getting married for 2+ years now (roll eyes). I think kids (especially at this age) tend to mirror other kids, and that can include a lot of older sibling behavior for 6 year olds (and not just your older DD, but perhaps behaviors taught to the 6 yo by her classmates who subsequently got it from their older siblings). Mine is an only and I see this pattern strongly-- like when she came home and announced, very matter of factly, that her friend doesn't associate with people of a certain color. Five year olds don't come up with that on their own, they get it from parents and older siblings. Of course, this was one of those situations where I asked her a few questions as to how she felt about it, and made sure she understood our values and that the other girl might be misguided (but she already had that figured out thankfully). 6 is also an age of narcissism, so I would not put too much bearing on her being caught up in her appearance and what other people think of her based on it. ALTHOUGH, I would definitely spend the next few years correcting her beliefs and continuing to communicate with her the values of "pretty is as pretty does" and that boys who are only interested in her for her appearance aren't much of anything themselves. It's a process, but that is the only way for your beliefs to make an impression is if she hears them consistently. It's especially important to keep on with it since we live in a society that is so caught up in outward appearance over inward virtue. Keep with your beliefs and give it time, and hopefully it will stick and she will outgrow this. You say she has a good relationship with her dad, which is very important, since how he treats her should eventually be reflected in the boys she chooses to associate with. I'd examine that relationship to make sure that her dad is encouraging her on a psychological and social level, and that he isn't inadvertently encouraging her need to be accepted by appearance. It is something he might do without even realizing it- if he consistently compliments her on how nice she looks after she gets herself dressed, but then fails to compliment her on her kind treatment of others, it could cause her to unconsciously value appearance over other things. It's easy to do this sort of thing with your kids and not realize it too. But again, 6 is an age of being strongly self-absorbed, and with some firm guidelines, boundaries, and positive encouragement on your part, I would hope she would naturally grow out of this and into a more rounded individual.

Happy Birthday Donna!!!! I hope that you have a wonderful day/weekend. Patti

Not sure about the OP but I do genealogy and thoroughly enjoy tracing the roots of all my family dealings. We don't know much, but what we know is precious. OP, hotels change names frequently of course but the library or historical society (as brushworks stated) in the local area will certainly help. So would ads in old local papers if you can find them archived.