<p>LOL, Fendergirl. Remember those posts awhile back on male vs. female communication styles? It applies to Dads,too. They’ll call when they need to know or communicate something specific, like asking what time your flight arrives… but to chat? Naw.</p>
<p>When I was in college (many years ago), I got into the habit of calling my parents every Sunday morning. Of course, there were no cell phones then, just a payphone at the end of our hall. I’m embarassed to admit this, but my dad used to have me call collect & then refuse the call. He would then call me right back to save the operator assisted charges.</p>
<p>I continue to call them almost every Sunday to this day (Fortunately, I’m able to pay for my own calls now). On the rare occasions I call them during the week, my mother’s first words are “Is everything OK?”</p>
<p>Don’t be embarrassed – we used to do the collect call/refusal thing too. It was standard practice those days to save money.</p>
<p>audiophile, I think that’s a lovely story. When my parents were alive, I called almost every day – nothing very interesting, just to chat. My husband always has called his parents on Sundays – if his dad calls us mid-week, I know something’s wrong.</p>
<p>my dad works like an hour and 15 minutes away from home, and its such a long boring drive that he calls my mom every day and talks most of the ride home. I have no clue what they talk about.</p>
<p>We used to be on a family plan (my dad, my sister, and myself) and my dad kept using up all of our minutes calling my mom who wasn’t on our plan. He eventually added her for 10 dollars because it was so much cheaper than paying for his overages… </p>
<p>I find it really funny, because most times it’s the kids racking up the minutes. My sister uses her phone like 40 minutes total all month, while my dad uses a few thousand.</p>
<p>every once and awhile he calls me if my mom is on the phone with someone else, but it’s very seldom. I just thought it was funny that time when he hung up on me.</p>
<p>I am about ready to drive down to pOrtland and bang on her door.
Its not that I expect her to fill me on all the details of her life ohgodno
But I have called several times ( on her cell) and also emailed since about monday- and haven’t gotten any response.( regarding some qs)
She doesn’t have a job as far as I know- and I don’t have her land line # although I do have her roommates email.
I may just email them to poke her and see if she is breathing.
( oh reminds me of a funny story- one of Ds friends- was in Micronesia for several years after high school- he hadn’t contacted his mother for a really, really long time- she was getting quite concerned what with the typhoons and all- granted, he had to go to a neighboring island to telegraph, but still… So she had a friend who was a Naval commander and happened to be in the area, he swung by the island to tell her son to “call your mother!”
He was soo embarrased * but I bet that was the last time, he let it go so long*</p>
<p>I had fun today. DS (that stands for Darling, by the way 
) is in NYC with GF. Today they went shopping for a new suit for him. My best college friend, who lives in NYC and has a great sense of style, gave them the names of 4 stores they should check out. I got about 5 phone calls during the day, “Mom, what would you say my budget is?”…“Mom, here is what I’ve found so far”…“Mom, what do you think about this”…“Mom, are you in front of the computer? Can you check the address of **** on East
44th?” all the while so obviously having fun and in high spirits.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: GF + Credit Card = Instant Communication.</p>
<p>that is cute
who needs a phone book when they have their mom 
I bet that is fun for the girlfriend too.</p>
<p>BTW
D called me-without me calling her roommate.
She found a job, that she likes( tech support), but isnt something she would keep long, but she has a better idea of what she is interested in , and she has actually a lot of skill in that area (technical writing- she already has collaborated on a LaTeX manual and she is also interested in distilling science info for the lay public- or maybe writing for something like Scientific American, whose articles are often read by scientists on other fields) so she sounds happy and excited and has * a plan*. That oddly enough doesn’t require taking out more loans :)</p>
<p>During orientation, the Dean at my daughter’s school gave a surefire technique for getting a kid to call.</p>
<p>Mail them a letter which says, “I’m enclosing a check for $100 so you and and your friends can go out to dinner.”</p>
<p>Then, don’t enclose the check.</p>
<p>interesteddad–ROTFL!! </p>
<p>…but of course, that DOES put you out $100.00 because what parent could then renege on the commitment to send the check…</p>
<p>EK–glad to hear your D’s news!</p>
<p>At our S’s orientation program, the summer before Freshman year at BU, the current students put on several skits for the kids and for the parents. Many related to this topic as well as the calls early on when the student is home sick. Got a good chuckle out of them then yet they proved quite realistic in terms of what many of us would experience once the school year began.</p>
<p>Or…just subscribe to the local newspaper and scan daily for disasters, unidentified patients, etc. I still do this, and the local paper is the NY Times!</p>
<p>It’s funny, I was cleaning out files and came across my Parent Orientation Booklet from 2004 from Stanford. I must have taken notes during a parent orientation session and have jotted in the margin of the booklet, “Don’t call, especially at night. Email to say thinking of you. Stay in touch through cards, packages, but please NO SURPRISE VISITS”. (as to the latter, well, DUH)…</p>
<p>Yippee! He CALLED! He shared! I’m so happy my S called & was very cheerful & thanked us for the boxes we sent. The suit I mailed arrived in the Flat Rate Priority Mail Box, as well as the box of gifts for him to share & the slippers he requested. He just came back from a campout with his floormates (& I’m not clear whether a floor of women also attended). It sounds like he’s making some nice friends and getting along well with his roommate, that he says is pretty compatible with him.
He was even willing to speak with the grandparents later in the evening, to wish them “Happy Grandparents’ Day!”</p>
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<p>When I was in college I was shocked to pick up the New York Times one morning and find a front page story about brush fires raging in Southern California – and a photo showing the charred remains of homes on my parent’s street. Needless to say, I called home right away.</p>