I no longer have Life 360 on my girls. Damnit!
They both begged for their privacy and independence once they turned 18. I reluctantly obliged to their wishes. I have no clue where they are anymore. Man! am I glad Life 360 didn't exist when I was a teenager or any time growing up, actually. That would have put a huge damper on most of my plans! Yet, I'm sure my parents would have appreciated it as much as I have! I wonder how much of my life's choices would have changed had I known I was being watched? How much fun I would have missed out on or how much trouble I would have never gotten into?? Probably ALOT! But that's neither here nor there. I am having to go on blind Faith that they are safe somewhere, wherever that may be and I am just thankful that we have texting and cell phones that can ping and do their thing that gives me a little peace of mind.
Phoebe took a trip to Statesboro this weekend to be with her friend. Taking the drive alone. Again, thankful for cell phones and Google Map! I fought back the urges to check in on her every 30 minutes. I may have caved once or twice. Still, successful as far as I'm concerned from a parent's point of view. When I needed to know that she arrived safe and sound, I sent a text asking just that.
She responded, "yessssss I am here".
A little sarcastic if I read that correctly?! I worried about her all night without sending any paranoid motherly texts. She was the last thing I thought of when I fell asleep and the first thing I thought of when I woke up. But I refused to give in, knowing she would not appreciate it. To my surprise, around 12:26pm to be exact, the normal wake up time for anyone under 20, I got a photo of her and three words:
"I'm still alive."
To me, that's almost the coolest thing in the world! A gift for any worrisome parent! One I didn't demand, but came solely on the fact that she knew I needed to know. I thanked her with a cross-eyed duck lip pic of myself and a few words that summed up how much she knew I needed to know she was okay and we laughed about it. She proceeded to send me a few pictures I'm certain were strategically chosen from the night before as to not give me the true events that unfolded.
Nevertheless, thoughtful and appreciated. Let's face it, we as parents really don't need to know exactly what our kids do. Hey, just like they don't need a play by play of all that their parents are doing either. Ain't that the truth! Still, I sit here feeling pretty good about this Life without 360. I can deal with the not knowing. It feels good knowing she understands that I worry and that she finds a little time to let me know that she is alive, having fun and along the way, thinks of me. That'll do little donkey, that'll do!!
Cheers to not knowing everything our grown kids do. We really aren't supposed to. Life shouldn't be that intrusive and nosey. We all need our space to be who we are and learn from our own mistakes. That's what's so fun about it!!
