Bomber jacket

Do you remember that one thing from your childhood you always wished you had but never did?  I can.  For me, it was a Leather Bomber Jacket.  Those were it.  Everyone had one.  Well, everyone but me.  Poor Sarah.

Somehow, I survived not having that leather jacket, although I'm not sure how because did I mention that EVERYONE had one but me?  Funny thing, although I remember being like the only one without that jacket, I don't really remember begging for it.  (So maybe it wasn't as important to me as it was everyone else or maybe my memory is failing?  I'm not sure.)

Madolyn had been begging for a cell phone since about the fifth grade, and maybe even before that.  We kept telling her no, using some of these excuses:  She needed to be able to pay for it; she needed to be responsible enough to take care of it; she didn't need one yet, if we thought she was in a situation where she needed one, we would let her take mine or her dad's; coaches or school officials should always make a phone available for her to use, etc.

At the end of her sixth grade year, out of her entire class, Madolyn was one of two who did not have cell phones.  How did she ever make it through grade school?  The earliest I can recall finding out that a classmate of hers had a cell phone was in the second grade.  Holy Cow. 

We decided that with the transition to the junior high/high school and all the activities she's involved in, it was time to get her a cell phone.  We had proved that she would not die from being the "only one without one."  She was 12 and going into the 7th grade.  I will say that it has come in very handy for her mother at times :)  I get annoyed with her texting constantly, but it is a great tool when it comes time for discipline and consequence-type situations.

Lane has started in asking for a cell phone.  Ha.  You aren't even nine yet, pal, just sit back and relax!  Madolyn now wants an I-pad.  Ahh, I remember how it was/is.  I can be the same way.  You finally get that thing you were dying for and then move on to the next best thing...because we are never satisfied.

So often we want what we cannot have.  Sometimes we get it and realize it really wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  Sometimes we do without it and forget about how important we thought it was.  I have a little sign at home that says "The secret to having it all is believing that you do."  Love that. 

I think I have let go of the fact that I didn't have a leather bomber jacket in high school.  And I realize now that although I didn't get that leather jacket, I did get a Letter Jacket that I still have to this day and even wore in our last Homecoming parade with my classmates.  If I had gotten a leather bomber jacket twenty-plus years ago, would I even still have it?  Hmm, maybe my parents realized what would be more important to me later on...