Maybe that’s one reason the dynamic changes so much after the arrival of grandson on the scene. Babies are endlessly fascinating… to their parents. There is always a “first” or something cute they did or said. DS rarely tells me anything about what goes on at work… but ever little cute thing that DGS says merits a phone call. Fortunately we are now well-past the potty-training phase. I really wasn’t all that appreciative of the phone calls reporting the latest poop (literally). Thought it did give me an opportunity to retell a few amusing (or not) stories from back it the day when DS was at the same phase of development. </p>
<p>Texting is a nice supplement, but could never take the place of an actual conversation, or hearing the sound of their voices. I always felt that it was important to model a two way communication style with the grandparents as well. IMO it helped reinforce the idea that keeping in touch with family in a more personal way is important to us. </p>
<p>Our kids live in the same city as us AND work in our businesses, too, so you’d think we’d talk fairly often. Not really. Yes, sometimes we wave as we go by. BUT, I have a deal with both kids: if I send a text with the word “ping”, they have to text back a “ping” within twenty four hours. </p>
<p>Sometimes it takes a week of emails and texts and FB messages to set up a simple dinner. They’re busy, we’re busy. I have found, though, that not always being available when they call does mean they call a bit more often. </p>
<p>D lives 5 hours away, and we don’t get to see her very often. We can tell how happy she is in her personal life by how infrequently she calls … if she’s not happy, we hear from her more often! She has had a great personal life the last year and a half, so we get texts every so often and calls once a week or so. She is a consultant as was working across the country during the week for more than 2 years, so the time difference made talking difficult. Her new assignment is in the same time zone, so I expect we’ll hear from her at night from time to time - she’ll be alone in her hotel room, so she may want to chat more often.</p>
<p>S lives in our house. Sometimes he chats with us, other times he holes up in another part of the house. Even if they are home, we don’t always hear from them! :)</p>
<p>D. is busy but she talks to us more often than in college. we have just moved her…3 miles from her previous apartment. She definitley needs lots of our help, becuase she has no time for anything. She was unpacking for whole entire Sunday, but I earned the deposit back on her old apartment - whooping $800, cleaned it all by myself, she was busy with her father moving in. Lots of communications because she is relying on our life experiences as very ancient _______
If I have no idea about what she is asking, I just listen, I love her calls and her brother’s calls, who do not call often, he has a very different life in very different place that sometime feels like another planet - NYC</p>