Cell Phones Don't Swim!

Friend Rita in Chiocchio suggested that it might be a good idea for Casey to have a cell phone when we are in Italy. Because I have faith in Rita, I actually gave this some thought--even though every brain cell I had silently whispered " that's crazy!" OK--I've been known to do some pretty crazy bizarre things over the years, so why not once more? It makes life so much more fun than always doing the logical. In fact, we have more than one friend who thinks our entire Italy plan is crazy.

Well, yesterday Casey obligingly provided the answer to the "why not" question-- cell phones don't do well after submersion in a swimming pool!

I had an old phone which I planned on replacing, so--I gave it to Casey to play around with--you know, to feel grown up and like a big shot. Since it still had a functioning battery (but no sim), I thought he could have some fun with it. He was ecstatic.

It was just a short time before my whispering brain cells soon were chanting "We told you so!" Within the first five minutes he dropped it and the little antenna broke off. Shortly after that I look out the kitchen window and see Casey's Uncle Jeff (my son), leaning over the pool with his arm plunged down to the depth of the jacuzzi bench. As he pulls the arm out, there at the end of his finger tips is a wet, dripping cell phone and it wasn't his. Somehow Casey had managed to have his new toy fall in the pool as he was, in very sophisticated fashion, trying to attach it to his waist band.

The strange thing was that it was still working but, then, in our adult wisdom, Ken and I decided to open it up to dry off the battery and insides. And--you guessed it--after our ministations, it went dark and no longer functioned at all.

We have decided that Casey will not have a mobile for a while--like 10 years. Any bets on whether we will hold out that long?

Guess this whole entry will be a Casey entry--you know "Casey, Italy and Other Good Stuff"?

Another little tale of how he keeps us smiling:

A couple nights ago, while we were in a rip-roaring and exciting game of UNO--Casey claims to be "obsessed" with it right now--, he informed us that he wants to start listening to classical music. Now this is a fairly uncommon request coming from a 7 year old--at least none of my 4 kids were remotely interested in classical music at any time of their lives, let along at the young age of 7--when they didn't even know what classical meant.

Of course, we were prompted to ask him why and he explained that his teacher, whom we like very much, told the class that listening to classical music will make them smarter. Understand that anything Mrs. Kang says is gospel and woe unto us if we ever contradict her or have him think we have done so. If she were to tell him that the sky is really green, there would be no way to reason him out of believing that. So--in his mind, it is an absolute given that she has provided great insight into mind development. Actually, I think it is kind of neat that he values being smarter.

So--not wanting to miss a great opportunity, I immediately set up the IPOD in a speaker and he had his first taste of Pavarotti and Vivaldi. His reaction was rather mixed. He didn't ask to have it turned off but he hasn't asked for a repeat performance either. Tomorrow, when the UNO comes out, the music is going on again and we'll test his new resolve. I am hoping he passes the test.

Next entry: Casey--again--as I must share tonight's experience--an elementary school dance with a second grader. I am really too old for this! And--tomorrow is the first Little League game of the season--well, not really but his first 2 games were rained out.