[PrincessPerky]

First.... tough thing, the 'kid' is 16...grown up enough to think he is...kid enough to not be...

Second..I agree with your mom, talk to him...I can't get my MIL to stop feeding cookies to my 4 year old, but I CAN get my 4 year old to ask me first....not that your mom should be putting you in this position, but that you will have better success trying to help your kid understand the why than changing your mother...IMO anyway

Can't blame him for wanting one..I would want my teen to have one, if they were often away form a free phone, but then I wouldn't want to pay a two year contract on a phone the kid will break..and be unable to use!

But on the other hand, having a monthly bill is a good practice for..err having them heh, and 50 a month is a lowish responsibility but it is 1/5 of his monthly salary...but well, truthfully, he is prolly going to screw up monitarily at some point in his life....might be better in the long run if you let him do this now(after laying out the facts, calmly) then he waits till he has a job making thousands, and buys a fancy new toy for 500 a month and fails to pay..does that make sense?

and to sum it all up, boy am I glad my kids are still young! I do not envy your troubles at all!