<p>“I have learned that my kids do not read email anymore (so older generation, who knew?),”</p>
<p>I had to text DD last night to tell her I sent her an email with a lot of detail info in it 
Wanted to make sure she would read it.</p>
<p>I’m not a big fan of texting, although once D is gone I may change my mind. Mostly it’s annoying to me because I’m so darned slow at it, and the abbreviations irritate me, so I end up spelling everything out.</p>
<p>I’m getting used to it because I consider it part of Empty Nest Training. I might have to upgrade my phone to one with a keyboard. I’m an editor, so I’m chronically unable to live with typos and bad grammar.</p>
<p>WildChild and I use Blackberrys- either email communication or Blackberry Messenger. Daughter and her fiance use regular text messages.<br>
My understanding from reading reviews is that Blackberry is far superior to IPhone for email/typing.<br>
When D and fiance were at Match Day for his medical school residency, I got a text message as I waited with my breath held that said VANDERBILT!! They called a few minutes later.</p>
<p>As I was reading this thread, D1 texted me “hi” in between classes…given her lack of communication when she is actually IN the house, like geezermom says, this is part of Empty Nest Training…</p>
<p>What I find even more effective when a long text message just doesn’t cut it, she has a Blackberry as well, where I can send an e-mail to her phone…
(I just sent her the article posted elsewhere about the “agony of the waitlist” article…her classmate has been waitlisted to 5 schools in the last 2 days…)</p>
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<p>Yes, my kids get frustrated with me for not responding quicker. I will be part way through my message and get another one from them “Mom, r u there? Type faster!” They keep telling me I don’t HAVE to put in correct commas and other punctuation, lol. Just can’t help it—I did give in on some of the “shorthand”.</p>
<p>I love texting. ZG taught me last year when she was waiting for college decisions. I was required to text her the mail status every day. Sometimes it’d be “fat envelope from College X” “small envelope from college Y.” On the day she got the fat envelope from the school she hoped to attend, I brought the envelope to her job and we both cried. She texts me all the time now, just smallthings so I know she’s ok. D2 is now texting small things from high school or activities for the same reason. I like this a lot.</p>
<p>Works for us! Even H is on board. Last night D left on a red eye for a college overnight ( three nights, 3000 miles! ) and she proudly texted how she handled the layover… at 3*AM. My S can be texting in his lap while we are (supposedly) reviewing Spanish vocab. Hmmm… wonder where he learned to do that…</p>
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<p>^^^upgraded with a cost increase? Not for free? Which company is that?</p>
<p>The biggest time suck since chat boards like this. If I were teacher I’d be confiscating phones like they used to take away gum and other crap. See thread on kids not being able to function as adults. Blahhhck.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear my kids aren’t the only one’s who don’t listen to their voicemail. My D usually just calls back after seeing a missed call. Dear Sweet Son doesn’t read email, doesn’t check his voicemail and doesn’t call me if he see’s a missed call. He will usually respond to a text. My youngest texts me when she wants me to bring her something or with pick up times. She is trying hard to teach me to text and hold the phone with the same hand. She tells me I am not doing it right! I have begun to leave out some vowels.
We have a family plan with all 5 phones and we have unlimited text for I think 30 dollars a month.</p>
<p>Ha.</p>
<p>I just called the house and left a message on the house answering machine to tell 14 year old son to check his email - sent him a fun message from his uncle. Otherwise, right, the kids are not much for email.</p>
<p>Just signed up for unlimited texting for the family.</p>
<p>Last summer my daughter was in a program with a lot of homework and I found I could IM her in the evening while she was studying.</p>
<p>You know, you can send text messages to a phone via email. I do that sometimes.</p>
<p>I like texting for the late night weekends and breaks when the kids are home, getting together with their friends from h.s. Kids think since they are in college now I don’t need to keep tabs on them. We reached a nice compromise. They send a text to my cell telling me where they are and give me an ETA. If things change, they send a new text with updated info. When I roll over, see how late it is and wonder if everything’s OK, I just check my messages, find out what’s up and then I’m able go back to sleep! Works out very well and they don’t have to acknowledge to their friends that Mom is still checking up on them. Although I know this is fairly common with the moms in his crowd…</p>
<p>Isn’t it odd that when they are away at school, I don’t feel the need to check up on them; but when they’re home, I can’t really rest until I know they are home safe and sound! I still like to hear the sound of the front door closing and the “Hi, Mom!” whispered at my door. Surely I’m not the only one who has this ‘issue’!!</p>
<p>My 82 year old mother is a text guru - and I can’t even type a sentence. I better get on with the program and start practising.</p>
<p>Packmom, you were shocked that your son had over 500 texts one month? I upgraded to unlimited after my D had 1800 in a month! I was paying $15/month for 1500, and she was paying me the overage - she owed me $17. It was cheaper just to pay $20 for her to get unlimited. Then DS started using it… so now I pay $30/month and all 3 of us have unlimited texting. </p>
<p>I understand it for quick conversations, for privacy when with others (so they don’t hear the convo), and for not interrupting someone. But DD has a friend with a Sidekick that will engage in LONG conversations via text. Look, you both clearly have a functioning phone in your hands - just CALL for gosh sakes!</p>
<p>DD tells me that texting is better because “you don’t have that awkward thing where you don’t know how to end the conversation.” Great. Now not only have our kids lost the ability to write, they’ve lost the ability to speak!</p>
<p>Well, I do like being able to text our children about changes in pick up times, etc. They’ll too look at a text much sooner than listen to a VM. </p>
<p>Here’s the downside to texts. It can create even more worry! Last night DD left for a 10-12 hour bus trip to DC with the school orchestra. Just a few minutes ago she texted me. “Mom, what are the side effects of ibuprofen? Can you look it up? I haven’t (used the bathroom) since yesterday and feel like I’m retaining water.” Now I go online and start to worry a little bit about side effects. I’m emailing her advice about avoiding caffeine, drinking lots of extra water, putting her feet up, etc. I’m also mentally debating whether I should call the orchestra director. A few texts later she’s making light of the situation. Now I’ll worry until she texts me that she’s used the bathroom! (I thought that kind of worry ended at about age 3 or so!)</p>
<p>Too much texting a mental illness?</p>
<p>From American Journal of Psychiatry</p>
<p>symptoms of texting addictions</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Excessive use</p></li>
<li><p>Withdrawal</p></li>
<li><p>Tolerance</p></li>
<li><p>Negative repercussion</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s a video on abc news. can’t post the link</p>
<p>I do also like to text (time to upgrade my plan, now that Verizon went to 20 cent text messages - especially w/ DD leaving in the fall…)</p>
<p>I have a tendency not to look at the screen as I type. So when I’m done typing “Plz go to the store and get milk”, it usually says something like “Qlr gn 2 rtnre and gu mhlk.”</p>
<p>If only they’d make a phone that could just read my mind…</p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>yeah texting great and multitasking are great- my D was texting while eating soup- you guessed it! Phone went into the soup…that was all she wrote!</p>
<p>Anyone recieve spam texts yet?- we have! The best we can gather our kids put their cell phone numbers up on facebook and the shady gang are taking them off facebook and selling them to spammers? My kids claim that is impossible but they also say the only time they gave out their cell phone numbers was on facebook! hmmmm</p>
<p>songman ~ yes, I had the spam problem. They were coming from email addresses. I called Verizon and got a very helpful CSR who walked me thru the website to block email and internet texts, but still allow phone to phone texts. It has worked beautifully. My cell number is not posted anywhere, and it is registered with the Do Not Call registry. But these were from emails, not calls.</p>