Not that it was planned, but it seems the theme for my nest this week is texting.
When my daughter and I saw this commercial on Sunday, we rewound it three times and laughed hysterically. (Thanks, TiVo!)
Everyone texts in this nest. Well the 3-year-old doesn’t, but that’s only because he does not have his own phone (yet).
When my mother-in-law moved in with us (2007), we put her on our mobile phone plan, got her a new phone, and proceeded – at full speed – with our way of life.
My mother-in-law, in the beginning, called me (a lot) to check on things with the kids, meals, schedules, driving directions, cocktail orders, etc…ok, the cocktail orders is a joke – but you get what I’m saying.
I didn’t mind her calling on my work line or mobile phone – but my problem was – she was only calling me. She wasn’t calling her son (my hubby) – she was only calling me. I asked why and she said it’s because I always responded.
Well of course I was responding to her. She was with the kids, I thought she may need something important, and why would I screen her calls?
The tension I felt around this was every question she had did not warrant a call . An email or text would do fine.
I understood she wasn’t at her desk when she wanted to get in contact with me (yes, she bought a desktop computer when she moved in with us – and could not be talked into a laptop – but let me stay on topic). With technology today, it is very easy to get in contact with people, but while I was at work, I could not take all of her calls when she called me.
My mother-in-law did not use much communication technology prior to moving in with us – other than a land line telephone. She did send email messages before living with us, but that was about it. She even said she had to step up her technology use and knowledge when she moved in and saw how many gadgets well all used.
What to do about all these calls?
I started texting her. Yup, just starting sending texts and I knew she would figure out what to do – and if she couldn’t, she would ask the 11-year-old or Google it.
And here we are in 2011 – and she’s a texting expert. She does have this habit of making up her own short cuts (e.g. geo = Curious George), but all is well in texting land – so far.
I was in a less than stimulating meeting one afternoon and my mother-in-law texted me. The text read, “Do we have cognac?”
Heck yes, we had cognac! I texted and told her where it was, didn’t ask why she wanted it, and made sure I left work on time that day. (It was for a dessert recipe.)
Why type of technology do you use with your parents and/or in-laws? How’s that going?
Wonders if G would share that dessert recipe.
This made me smile.
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