May 14, 2015 My Phoneless Freakout! Hi Nikki, HEEEEELP! I have a huge crack on the screen of my new cell phone and now my parents are totally flipping out! It’s so bad that they took away my phone and put it on lockdown for the rest of the year. I guess you could say that I’m not that good at taking care of my phone :-/. I lost my first phone at school, the second one fell in the toilet and got water damage, and my BFF accidentally dropped my third one on the sidewalk. That’s how I got that HUGE crack on it. I admit that I’ve been irresponsible in the past, but I’ve finally learned my lesson! How do I convince my parents to give me another chance? And, how can I take better care of my cell phone so I don’t end up trashing my next one? Sadly, Phoneless Phoebe My Advice: Dear Phoneless Phoebe, Since your parents were generous enough to buy you THREE phones, I can totally see why they are a little upset at you right now. Cell phones are pretty expensive and it sounds like you’ve blown through three of them in a short period of time. I also agree with your statement that you’ve been irresponsible, even though you didn’t lose or damage your phones on purpose. Hey girlfriend, at the rate you’re going, you’d have lost or damaged 29 cell phones by the end of the year. Okay, just kidding! But, in all seriousness… My advice to you is to apologize to your parents for wrecking and/or losing the first three phones. Your ‘rents will feel a lot better about the situation once they know 1) you appreciated them buying the phones and 2) that you realize (and admit) you were being irresponsible by not taking better care of the phones. Next, start saving up your OWN money to buy your OWN phone. Or, better yet, offer to pay for the repairs to your existing cracked phone that’s on lockdown. Doing either of these things will show your parents that you’re trying to be more responsible and mature. And, it will also make them more likely to give you another chance. And finally, I suggest that you get one of those big, ugly, super-duper strong, plastic protective cases for your phone. Yes, I know! It’s not nearly as cute or sparkly as your fake diamond-encrusted Hello Kitty phone case that you got for your birthday. But, if you put your phone in one of those thick, ugly, protective cases, it would probably survive a plane crash AND your BFF accidentally dropping it off of a 10 story building onto the sidewalk. OOPSY! And, there’s even MORE good news! Since those ugly protective cases are also WATERPROOF, you can drop your phone in a swimming pool, mud puddle and even the toilet again (EWWW!) and NOT even damage it. So, here is my advice in three easy steps: 1) Apologize to your ‘rents 2) Start saving up your own money to buy a phone or repair the damaged one 3) Get an ugly, super duper strong, protective case so you don’t destroy your next phone I hope this helps! If so, shoot me a text as soon as you get your phone back and we can hang out at Crazy Burger :-)!!! This is MY advice. What advice would YOU give Phoebe? Have you ever damaged or lost YOUR cell phone? What did your parents say or do?