“Five more minutes.”

You walk past your daughter’s room.

She’s on her phone.

“Hey, you need to get started on your homework.”

“I know.”

Twenty minutes later, you walk by again.

Still on her phone.

“I thought you were getting started.”

“I am. Five more minutes.”

You said that twenty minutes ago.

You keep walking.

Because you really don’t want to say anything else.

But now you’re thinking about the homework she hasn’t started.

How late she’ll be up.

How tired she’ll be tomorrow.

And mostly:

Why is it so hard for you to just put the phone down?

So you go back.

“Okay. Five minutes. Then I want the phone away.”

“Mom. I know.”

And there it is.

That tone.

Ugh. Here we go again.

Another reminder.

Another argument.

Maybe eventually you take the phone away just so the whole thing will stop.

And you hate that this has become your job.

You don’t want to fight with your daughter about her phone every night.

You don’t want to be constantly watching how long she’s been on it.

But you also can’t watch her spend hours on her phone when she has things she needs to get done and say nothing.

What am I supposed to do? Just let her stay on it?

🧡 Jeanine

What do you find yourself saying over and over about their phone? I’d love to hear.