Did you get a text?

"Hey mom. Can I play with your phone?" .....is how it all started.

It was a pleasant day at Lagoon. The kids had finally earned their season passes and we were enjoying our first Lagoon day of the year. The kids were so excited and anxious. Knowing many of their friends had also gotten passes, they were on the lookout for someone they knew. As we stood in line for the Log Flume, the kids were bored. They were tired, and hot, and bored. Connor then asks an innocent question (or so I thought),"Hey mom. Can I play with your phone?" This question had been asked many times. "Sure," I reply. Handing over my phone I had no reservations. Connor loves to play with my phone. He likes to take funny pictures, record a silly video, text his dad or change my ring tone. My phone doesn't do anything too fancy afterall. I've had it for several years. I handed him my phone with the hopes that it would bust his boredom. After a few minutes he hands it back. I put it in my back pocket and that was when it all started.

My phone vibrates (indicating I've received a text). And then it vibrates again, and again, and again. What is going on? I'm thinking to myself. I never get this many texts at a time. I pull my phone out of my pocket and it vibrates again. This is crazy....5 new texts the screen reads. As I go to read them, it vibrates again, and again. I can't even retrieve the texts because too many are coming in at once. I finally get the first text and it reads: 'nope'. The second text comes across the screen: 'who is this?', followed by more vibrations.
"Connor, what did you do to my phone?" I ask.
He shrugs his shoulders. More vibrations. Text number three:' we are on our way'. I have no idea what these people are talking about.
"Connor, did you text some people?"
"Ya," he replies.
"Who?"
"I don't know," he says. More vibrations.
"I was just texting to see who was at Lagoon."
Aaaaahhhh. Text number four: 'not me....I wish'. It was all starting to come together now. In his excitement to see friends at Lagoon, he decided to send a text (from my phone) to see who just might be at Lagoon. More vibrations. Next text: 'who r u? and why would I be at Lagoon?'. Nice. Now remember that I've had my phone for many years. During this time I have stored a lot of numbers in my phone. From room moms I've worked with, to bishopric members, young women leaders, pizza places, old neighbors, and people I just needed to maybe call once. As it turns out, this is the message that was sent TO ALL 67 NUMBERS STORED IN MY PHONE:

'Is anyone at Lagoon?'.

Innocent enough, but wow did I confuse a lot of people. I also reconnected with many people who I did not care to reconnect with. More vibrations.

"How do I fix this?" I ask Tony. We decided to send a simple text letting people know that we were sorry and that Connor had been playing with my phone. More vibrations continue and add to my embarassment. After a little reprimanding, Connor soon realized that he would not be texting anyone on my phone for a while. As the day continued on we started to look forward to the texts and laughed at all the crazy responses. It has been days since this incident and I am still receiving responses. Just for fun, here are some of the dozens and dozens (45 and counting) of texts I have recieved.....

'No I wish I was. We are at tumbling.'
'This is Kathy right?'
'We left a little after five. Have fun if u r still there!'
'What do you mean?'
'We are on our way'
'Who is this?'
'Yeah, I'm totally at Lagoon...not'
'We're chillin' at the mall with some chick-fil-a'
'No, why?'

Some lessons learned. 1)Don't underestimate the technological ability of your 9 year old. 2)Only keep numbers of people you want to talk to in your phone. 3)People take all texts you send seriously - so be careful.

Happy texting!!