...Sanity Optional

I survived the invasion of teens into my home! I am a teen sleepover survivor mom! There were a few close calls and a couple of times I thought my husband may take out a loud mouthed, over bearing, opinionated teen...but we survived and without any injuries!

You know this is going to make me sound old and possibly uncool, but when did cell phones become a vital teen organ? (I will admit our teens have phones and even though I had really good reasons for equipping them with said phones, there are times when I want to smack the phones right off their faces!) There was one girl, ONE, who was without cellular attire. Out of the 15 or so (I lost count) teens in our house last night and this morning only one didn't have a cell phone.

We have the data blocked and MMS (picture and video sending) blocked on our girls phones. We have unlimited texting (thankfully) but I just don't want to get into any situation where someone sends a picture and it becomes 'bad' and the data (Internet basically) just costs too much to have on their phones. Why do they need that when they have computers?

We have very strict rules in our home for cell phones (even for the adults), like no phones at the dinner table. That means no phones on the table, in your pocket, or within earshot really. I tried to enforce these rules last night and got all gasps and oh my gawwds! I even threatened to have them all put their phones in a big jar at one point. (one of the girls gasped, giggled, and then said, "it would sound like a jar full of bees buzzing"! That was hilarious and true!)

So a few movies, a lot of food, some video games, lots of plates and cups, more food, a few presents, and most of my sanity later - WE SURVIVED! (by the way the coolest thing all night was watching 4 girls at a time do the Wii Just Dance 2 game, one of the guests brought it from home to share. It looked like a choreographed small flash mob in my living room! We are going to have to go buy that game for Christmas!)

We had 2 jackets and a pair of pants left behind (not all from the same girl), only one Christmas ornament broken, and my daughter Toria lost her cell phone somewhere in the house. Not a bad total, all things considered.

Later this afternoon as I lay down on the couch (worn out) to watch football with my husband, the cushion under my head vibrated...found the lost phone! When I brought it to Toria, she lifted her head off her pillow (coming out of her sleep-over coma momentarily) and said "thanks Mom, your the best" and fell back to sleep immediately.

So, I gotta say (even though my husband will cringe) It was all worth it and I would do it all again! I should have my sanity back before the next one...right?!