~Crime and Punishment~

Here is the crime you will undoubtedly hear about ad nauseam when you arrive at home in three days:

Jake had a midnight curfew (with 30 minutes of leeway) and he arrived at home at 3:00am.

I have decided that the punushment will be that I am taking away his phone until he completes three tasks:

1.  Clean the garage.
2.   Get all of the weeds out of the flower bed and yard.
3.   Organize the fire pit wood and all of the junk bikes.

When he completes those tasks, he can have his phone back.  I figure if he gets right on it, he can get his phone back Monday.  If he cries and whines and delays--it could take weeks.

He is currently sleeping and he isn't aware of the consequences of his actions, but I already know the story he is going to stick to:

They got to the top of the Butte, and Hailey lost her phone and so they had to search for it.  His phone lost battery power, so he had to turn it off, which is why he couldn't asnwer calls, texts or be pinpointed on life 360.  They had to stay and keep searching--but they were not able to find it.

His story may be true.  All of his stories for why he is late might be true.  There does seem to be a consistent pattern:  before he or Hailey leave for an extended period of time, they get together and Jake is 2-4 hours late.

I figure that Jake has decided that he is an adult and as such, he can set his own curfew.  I appreciate his efforts in stepping up and making his decisions and because of that I have decided to treat him like an adult.  One that needs to prove to us that it is worth it to pay his phone bill.  He can show us he is worth that $50 by doing chores.

If he always seems to lose battery power, or accidentally have his phone turned off when it is past his curfew and he can't call me, then I am not compelled to shell out the cash for that phone.