When I was a kid, I would have never even dreamed of having a phone of my own, much less a cell phone. I mean, seriously, I'm only 29 and I remember when cell phones were brick size. I didn't even have phone privileges at all when I was a kid. However, it seems that today things are a lot different and just about everyone has a cell phone, including kids.

Our teenage daughter has a cell phone, and it hasn’t come without some ground rules. I don't necessarily have a problem with kids and teens having cell phones, but I do believe that there must be some rules surrounding kids and cell phones for their safety and our sanity.

After all, you only need do a bit of research and you'll find quite a few horror stories surrounding cell phones. Not only are sexual predators on the internet these days, but they are stalking kids on their cell phones as well. There is also the problem of "sexting" going on, where kids use cell phones to text sexual messages and pictures to each other.

Just recently I was talking to someone, who will remain anonymous. She was having problems with her son and took his cell phone away from him. When she took the phone, she was horrified to find all kinds of porn pictures on the phone as well as many sexual text messages. This kid was only 15 years old and was already into all kinds or hardcore porn. This is one danger of cell phones, and parents you must watch out for this if you kids have a cell phone. Kids can send it to each other or if they have internet on their phones, they can easily find porn for cell phones too.

Not only is their the danger of predators and porn and "sexting," but there is also the danger of a humongous bill. Recently I read in the news about a teenager that ran up a bill over $4,000 in a month's time. This is not the norm, but I know a teen myself that ran up a bill over $1000. Once you go over your minutes or text messages, those charges add up quickly, not to mention the costs of downloading games, ringtones, and backgrounds for phones.

Due to the dangers that are out there when it comes to cell phones, in our family we have some basic ground rules regarding the cell phone. Here is a look at some of the rules we use that you may want to consider for you teen as well.

- Rule #1 - The phone is not used after 10pm. Unless there is special permission for an extra 5-10 minutes, which happens very rarely, the phone is not in use after this time. There is no way we are going to let our kids stay up all night texting or playing on their phone.

- Rule #2 - Cell phones are not answered during dinner. In fact, they are not even allowed at the dinner table. Not only is this a rule for our kids, but it is a rule we keep as well. Unless we are expected an important call, we don't answer our phones during dinner. That is family time, we are eating, and whoever is calling can wait. We try to lead by example here.

- Rule #3 - The cell phone is not used in the office while my husband and I are working. My husband and I both work at home. The home office is where we work, and it is difficult to work with a teen jabbering away on the phone the entire time we are trying to work. So when we are working, the cell phone is not used in the office area. Unless it is business related, my husband and I generally don't take calls in the office either. We move to another room to avoid disturbing each other.

- Rule #4 - The privilege of a cell phone is performance based. My husband and I believe that the cell phone is a privilege, not a right in this house. This means that if our kids don't take care of their responsibilities, they may lose their cell phone. (This also applies to computer use) If our kids don’t take care of their chores or their homework, during the school year, then the cell phone goes "bye-bye" until they improve on taking care of their responsibilities.

- Rule #5 - Cell phones don't get used during school, unless there is an emergency. Most schools don't allow cell phones to be out during class anyway. If the teacher takes our kids phones, then we don't feel the need to go get the phone back right away.

- Rule #6 - We, meaning my husband and I, don't take a backseat to the cell phone. This means that when our kids are told to do something, we don't wait for them to get off the phone. We don't wait on dinner because of the cell phone either. In our family we believe that family is the most important thing, and family doesn't fall in second place to a cell phone.

These are just a few of the rules that we use when it comes to our teens and the use of cell phones. I believe cell phones can be a great tool to have. They are very useful for when you have kids involved in after school activities so they can call you. I have also found that they are useful in many other ways. As long as there are rules that guide them, they can be a great tool.

Thanks for checking out Parents R Us again. Do you have kids with cell phones? Share your comments, rules, or stories with us. We'd love to hear what you think about kids and cell phones.

I want to do something a little bit funny today with Parents “R” US and this popped into my mind. I was wondering what it would take to make people think they were a parents and I came up with this list.

10 - If your kids complain that the remote for the television doesn’t work, but you still remember having to get up off of the couch and turn a knob to change the channel, you might be a parent.

9 – If your kids tell you they can’t do their math homework because the internet connection is to slow, but you remember when it was hard to use a calculator, you might be a parent.

8 – If the kids tell you they can’t go where you want to go, because their cell phone gets no reception there, but you still remember when you had to stay home to get a phone call because there was no such things as cell phones, you might be a parent.

7 – If your kids tell you that a 30 dollar pair of levis isn’t good enough, because if you don’t have the 100 dollar pair of designer jeans everyone else is wearing you are a nobody, but you remember when you had to fight with your parents just to get a pair of Levis because Lee’s weren’t cool enough, you might be a parent.

6 – If your 14 year old daughter or son tells you they want to go hang out at the mall and will be home at midnight on a school night, but you remember when 8pm was too late to stay out on a school night, you might be a parent.

5 – If your kids tell you 20 dollars a week for an allowance is not enough and everyone else gets more, but you can remember when 5 dollars a week was considered a great allowance, you might be a parent.

4 – If your kids tell you they can’t eat a meal at Burger King for less than 6 dollars, but you still remember when 3 cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a medium chocolate shake cost $2.94 there, you might be a parent.

3 – If you have to tell your kids to buckle up because it is the law, but you remember when babies rode in cars without any restraints and riding in the back of a pickup truck was considered a treat, you might be a parent.

2 – If you take your family of four out to the movies for a treat and it costs you $22.50 for tickets, $20.00 for soda’s, and $20.00 for a large popcorn and two boxes of candy, but remember when the whole shebang cost less than $20.00 for either a theater or drive-in, you might be a parent.

And now for the number one example of if you might be a parent…..

1– If you are walking around the house, or the grocery store, or even doing the house cleaning and you know all of the words to The Wiggles Another Cup of Rosy Tea and you are singing it at the time, you might be a parent.

I hope this brings back great memories of more simple times to those of us lucky enough to have grown up in them. Have an awesome day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Let’s talk about dinner time here for a minute. In my opinion this is one of the most important times of the day for families and parents in particular. There are a few reasons why dinner is time is so important so let’s tick them down.

1) Dinner time is probably the only time of the day where the entire family will be together in one place as a unit. This is important because it instills all family members with a feeling of unity as a family.

2) Dinner time is that time of day where the family gets together and discusses how their day went. What was good, what was bad and what any other member of the family might need to know about current or future affairs in each others lives.

3) Dinner time is the one meal where you can make sure that everyone in your family eats a healthy meal, instead of something fast from a drive-thru window. That is how most people I know eat lunch,

4) Dinner time is that time of the day where you can slow down and take a step back from all of the stress that usually encompasses a hectic day and relax. It is nice to take a deep breath and get a little perspective on the events of your day.

Of course in my home there are a few rules for dinner time that help it to go smoothly and comfortably at least for me. Let’s take a look at those rules.

1) Dinner time is everyone’s time so everyone needs to be at the table on time. This is a good habit to get into and helps with the whole responsibility thing.

2) No cell phones, laptops, or other distractions at the table. Everyone is there to eat and catch up with everybody else about their day. Any phone calls, instant messages, or chapters in the kid’s school books can wait till dinner is over.

3) Everyone eats everything on their plate’s mom and I are not short order cooks. Besides mom and I are awesome cooks so there should be none of this EWWWW I don’t like this, because we know what our family likes to eat.

4) No one is excused from the table until everyone else is finished eating. The reason for this is that it is rude. This rule also includes no bad table manners, but those are usually decided upon by each individual family.

This is how we make dinner time a successful event in our home, and for us it is very rare to miss a homemade dinner, because we seldom eat fast food. I think if more families tried out this kind of meal plan there would a lot more family values instilled within a family and its future generations. I hope this post helps all of you readers out, and I hope you all have a glorious St Patrick’s Day.