ADDICTED

“Ah, rats!” I cried as lost the game of Solitaire I’d been playing. I’d been sitting on the couch playing on my phone when my son Alex came into the room.

“What are we doing for lunch?” he asked.

“What?” I looked confused as I looked over at the clock. “Are you kidding me?” I cried. “How’d it get to be 12:30!” I reached over to my tea cup, that was sitting on the coffee table, and realized as I took a sip that it was cold. “Where’d the morning go?” I said shaking my head, getting up and adjusting my bathrobe. “I better get in the shower, I have a lot to get done today.” I slipped my phone in my bathrobe pocket and walked into the kitchen to pour the remainder of my tea in the sink and put the cup in the dishwasher.

“What time did you get up this morning?” Alex asked as he began going through the refrigerator looking for something to eat.

“I think around 7 o’clock.” I went to get a glass to fill with water.

“You’ve been on the couch playing Solitaire all this time?” He’d pulled some cold cuts from the drawer and placed them on the counter-top.

“Not the whole time.” I said feeling a bit of shame. “I was also watching some videos and scanning Facebook.”

“That’s a lot of time on your phone.” Alex said as he pulled a package of rolls from the cabinet and held them up. “You want me to make you a sandwich?”

“No thanks.” I sighed looking at the rolls. “But maybe you’re right. I did just waste the entire morning playing on my phone.”

Alex tossed the rolls on the counter-top and held out his hand. “Here. Give it to me.”

“What?” I protectively put my hand over the pocket my phone was in. “Why?”

“I’ll hold on to it while you take a shower.”

“But I might need it.” I took a step back.

Alex started to laugh. “Seriously?” His hand was still held out. “Are you taking it in the shower with you?”

“Well, no.” I took another step back. “But I like to have it on the vanity in case someone calls me.”

Alex stood there with his hand held out not saying another word, but the look in his eyes said everything.

I took a deep breath as I reached in my pocket and took out my phone. “Wow! This is so much harder then I thought it would be.”

“It’s for your own good.” Alex extended his hand further.

I placed my phone in his hand. “Okay fine. But I get it back when I get out of the shower, right?”

Alex slipped my phone in his jeans pocket. “Let’s see how it goes when you get out.” He went over to the sink to wash his hands.

“What?” I could feel myself getting anxious. “But I need my phone!” I cried. “I promise I’ll use it less tomorrow!”

Alex reached over to get a paper towel to dry his hands. “That’s exactly what everyone addicted to their phones say.”

It’s hard to argue with him when he was right.

“Fine.” I went to the linen closet to get a towel. “I’ll be out of the shower soon and we’ll discuss it then.” I called.