Calling All Parents...I need some advice

I am a big rule person. I set the rules and they must be followed. I do allow my children's input and sometimes am willing to compromise, but not much. Lately I am having to debate the rules with my youngest son. You would think that I would be battling my high schooler but nope its the elementary one that takes issue with my rules??? In my home It has been my rule that girls are off the table til middle school at least. I have provided my children with a dating timeline that is acceptable in our home. Here it is:
Elementary School- You can like a girl, flirt, at the most hold a lil convo or text exchange via the phone but that's it. 
No "boyfriend/girlfriend" stuff. No dating, no long everyday convos.
Middle Schoool- You can like a girl, maybe even have one over.
If you wanna have a "girlfriend" at school that is cool. 
There will be no "dating". 
Any time spent with a girl will be in group settings or with adult supervision. 
High School- You can have "girlfriend" but in order to hang out with her I need to meet her and her parent/s. 
Going out on an actual "date" I am still undecided about that. We have decided to deal with that when it becomes an issue.
I think I will make that decision on an individual basis. 


So that is how I run my house and deal with the teen boys and their female relationships. So far, so good they have followed these rules and no one has really had to deal with any complex emotions that they may not be mature enough to handle. And I still am not a grandma so this is working for me.


All of my boys are rather cute and get a decent amount of female attention. Some definitely more than the next but then came Mason. If you will recall Mason is the youngest of the boys. Mason is 10 and in fourth grade. Still, to me, a baby. although these rules have yet to be challenged by the other boys, Mason is debating them with me daily. Mason has decided he will have a girlfriend. I sat Mason down to go over my allotted dating timeline and he really did not agree. Not that that matters much. It appears Mason has a "secret girlfriend". Not to worry because again Mason is 10. He goes to school, then track out camp and then home with mom so his 'realationship" is basically a schoolyard mutual crush. The other big debate we are having is cell phones. Apparently Mason is the only child above 1st grade that doesn't have a cell phone.. Mason has been bugging me to get him a cell phone but I got a rule about that too. No cell phones til middle school. Although it does seem like I am the only parent that feels that way. 


And lastly, I am in need of a bit of advice here from seasoned parents. It has always been my rule that my kids cannot ride with another teen driver. This is very challenging now that I have a kid in high school because he has several friends that drive to and from school and since he walks home I suspect he has "caught a ride". He admitted to this once we talked about it,but in typical teen fashion he believes that it is fine. I am so scary-concerned about this. Our town has teen awareness day coming up in a couple weeks. I am taking Michael. The day is focused on teen safety, specifically teen drivers. He thinks it is lame but I don't care, we are going. Am I being crazy on this? Again no one else's mom seems to mind if their kids catch a ride with another teen but I am scared outta my mind about this.


So I am polling my readers for advice. Help me out guys/gals.


 Where do you stand on the teen driving/riding issue? And how did you manage it?
What are or will be your rules for dating?
Will they differ depending on the gender?
How about the appropriate age for a child to have a cell phone?

F**K YOU EHARMONY

Gotta put the funeral story on pause for a minute.

I have shocking and deplorable news. I am undateable!! I have never had much trouble getting a guy and usually have at least one guy crushing on me in the background somewhere. So I just spent an entire hour on Eharmony trying to feel out my potential to find love again someday. I answered what seemed like a million questions quite honestly and an hour later pressed the button and waitted anxiuosly to see my new potential hotties. What I got was the following message.

"We're very sorry, but our matching system cannot predict good matches for you."

SERIOUSLY??? NO ONE. NOT ONE SINGLE GUY IN THE WHOLE U S of A??!!

It then proceeded with a disclosure of some sort trying to tell me that just because they couldn't find love for me it doesn't mean that I won't find it someday on my own. Then it told me that the results of this does not have any reflection on the type of person that I am etc. etc. etc. I imagined that someone has killed themselves after getting this message from eharmony before, therefore the need for this disclosure.


In order to thank me for wasting an entire hour of my life only to be told that I suck they gave me the lovely parting gift of a personality profile.


"We apologize and regret our inability to find good matches for you. The time you spent completing our questionnaire, however, has enabled us to provide you with a free Personality Profile.. This Personality Profile lets you learn more about yourself and should provide you with valuable insights."


Words that describe you:
Uncompromising
Frank
Astute
Critical
Empirical
Tough
Discerning
Skeptical
Shrewd

There was much, much more. At first I laughed. Then as I read on I cried. Now I am depressed. Kinda.