Momma Courageous

Parenting Teens With Courage and Candor

More About Me...

I am a mother of four who is insanely passionate about raising kids who are responsible, compassionate, curious, ethical and fun. I am often considered a cross between Mary Poppins and a drill sergeant, but who asked? By day, I am a social media enthusiast, Internet marketer, wife, mother, friend, tennis junkie and owner of Wonderfish Creative Solutions.

Another Tid-Bit

While Momma Courageous is For Mommas and By Mommas, there is definitely something for anyone who has considered pulling out her hair, divorcing the kids, or laughing to keep from crying. So if you've braved the unthinkable and lived long enough to tell the world about it, feel free to share your stories about parenting teens with courage and candor here. Together we will survive these years of teenage angst.

Driving Under Textation


Sure, I've seen the billboards dotting the highways in Metro Atlanta: "Are you InTEXTicated?" "Don't Drive and Text," "Texting Kills," but I must admit, this courageous momma has been caught more than a few times DUITing -- driving under the influnence of texting -- even though I've hypocritically told my unliscensed, but soon to be driving teenagers that such reckless behavior is a cardinal sin.

A New York Times article about Phillipa Curtis, a young British woman who was sentenced to 21 months in a high-security women's prison for killing up-and-coming fashion designer Victoria McBryd, has scared me straight! The victim was stranded on the side of the road when Curtis plowed into the back of her stalled car. Accident, right?  Normally yes, but Curtis' phone revealed she had sent and responded to nearly two dozen text messages prior to the fatal accident, and the High Court of Britain didn't mess around when it came to sentencing the 24 year old. 


The Daily Beast reports that "The train crash that took 25 lives last September in Los Angeles is believed to have been caused by an engineer who was texting on his cellphone. Last May, a texting engineer caused another train crash in Boston, injuring 50 people; and texting is still suspected in the DC subway accident that killed nine people in June.

While America has not enforced any laws as strict as those in Britain, the debate is raging. A recent New York Times/CBS survery reveals that 97% of the respondents support the prohibition of texting while driving. Eighty percent also support a ban on talking on a hand-held cellphone while driving; and 50% percent said the punishment for texting and driving should be just as severe as for drunken driving.

So how do we cure ourselves?
In Wales, police have created a public service video to really put the fear of God in people who text and drive. It has been viewed on YouTube a gazillion times, but most folks don't believe such scare tactics will work.

An alternative, Kelly K. Browning, executive director of the advocacy group Impact Teen Drivers in California, suggests is this idea, "Star 65 to Stay Alive, to AT&T, in which the company could set up a code of *65 to disable incoming calls and texts, and send automatic response messages like, “I’m driving right now. I’ll get back to you when I’m off the road.”

My children often offer to text for me while I'm driving, but I often refuse. Now I think assigning a "Designated Texter," is probably a darn good idea.What's your take on the matter?

We'll I'm definitely converted, and I'm challenging all courageous moms to put down the cells phones, be sober-minded, and tune out those distracting text messages.

Johnny can wait at the baseball field an extra five minutes until you get there, that million dollar deal still has your name written all over it even if you can't respond immediately, and 9 times out of 10, your response to Sally's rants about everything that's wrong with the world, will probably push her over the edge anyway.

Will you join me in the revolution? Great. Put your cell phone where your mouth is. For the next 24 days, I challenge you to put your CrackBerry down and pay attention to the sandblasted road!
 

different paths

college campus lawn

wires in front of sky

aerial perspective

clouds

clouds over the highway

The Poultney Inn

apartment for rent