Day 36:365 Gratitude Challenge and April 23rd A to Z Challenge
Today I am grateful for text messaging. Text messaging for me is the greatest thing since 
sliced bread. It makes life easier for me because I really don’t like making phone calls; in fact, using the phone causes me anxiety to a certain extent. I will do just about anything to delay or avoid making a phone call due to anxiety. I will fret about what to say, whether I am bothering the other person, and whether or not I will get tongue-tied during the conversation thereby embarrassing myself. If I do finally work myself up to making a phone call and it goes well, I will breathe a sigh of relief afterwards. If it doesn’t, I can obsess about what was said afterwards for what will feel like hours. It may seem irrational but to me it is very real.
Most of this stems from the fact that when my father was non-compliant with his schizophrenia medications, he would telephone me compulsively and obsessively either ranting or raving about some injustice he had suffered, sometimes he was quoting Shakespeare, other times the Bible. It was nothing for him to call me 12 to 20 times a day. If he was picked up for vagrancy, I was always the one called to bail him out. If he was admitted to the psychiatrict hospital, I was always the one called, no matter what hour of the night it was, to be asked the admitting questions. The phone became intrusive and, it’s shrill ring, the warning that something was wrong again.
Text messaging avoids that for me. It makes it easier and less stressful for me to stay in contact with family and friends. Plus I find texting fun; I can send memes and funny quotations as my way of saying “hey, I thought of you today and it was awesome!”
Texting also works well for my sons and me. All four of us are in different time zones and when it is a good time for me to phone them, they are usually at work. When it is a good time for them to call me, I am usually in bed snoring the night away. Texting is a way of saying a quick ‘hello’ in between our longer weekend calls. Rarely does a day goes by when I am not in contact with at least one of them; it always makes me smile just to see their name come up on my cell phone. We also use text messaging to drop a quick reminder that it is someone’s birthday or as a notice that there is a care package on the way. Or it can be used to tease, torment and torture one another (usually our favourite thing to do). Remember that log meme I received when I was blamed for breaking the toilet?? Yep, that’s how we roll in this family.
Each of my sons has their own unique sense of humour, wit and wisdom which they may or may not get from me (wink, wink). Here are a few screen shots of some of our texts:
Ryan (EC)
Dylan (MC)
Liam (YC)
Me aka Linda aka the Head Cabbage
Life is never dull in the Cabbage Patch. We’re a crazy twisted bunch of texters when we get going. Once Liam and I engaged in a tweet off after he told me that he was going to see The Tragically Hip in concert. I commented on the event by using a song title of the Hip’s and then he replied with another. This must have gone on for a good twenty minutes or until we ran out of song titles. I am fairly certain that I won that monumentous event (really, I did). Liam may say differently; however, given that I am the older and wiser one in this relationship, it means that I trump anything he may have to say. So there. Na na na boo boo.
Our texts are really tame compared to @crazyjewishmom who texts her daughter on average 111 times each day. My sons would change their numbers and block me forever if I so much as thought of texting them continuously. If you need a chuckle or two (or reassurance that you are not an insane texter), check out Kate Siegal’s (@crazyjewishmom’s daughter) Instagram or Twitter accounts. It’s really something to check out. Enjoy!
Texting queen:1
Landline: 0
I cringe every time I have to make a phone call outside work… I find texting to be so much more convenient! and the memes are easier to explain hahahhaa
My texts can sometimes be humorous but that’s usually because I make too many typos and auto correct gets creative. I like the pirate one.
Auto correct can certainly make our texts much more interesting, that’s for sure! Thanks for dropping by the Cabbage Patch 🙂
My daughter and I will text almost daily. Im lucky to hear from my son every other week. I wish he would text me more often. I’ll send a “hi Jesse” and it may be 2 days before I hear back. I need to change my strategy with him. I wonder if I send off multiple rapid texts if he would respond sooner, hehehe.
Funny!!!
I am so glad this well for you and your family. I do text with my children, but I hate it! I just think there is a lot lost in communication – the subtle nuances, tone of voice, and even body language. It’s convenient for sure but give me the voice anytime. Good post. @sheilamgood at Cow Pasture Chronicles
There certainly is a lot lost in communication when texting and, if my sons lived in the same time zone as me, I definitely would be calling them more often as I would prefer to hear their voices rather than just reading words.
You got that right!
PS. You’re lucky Ryan didn’t give you crap for wanting to “fit into the sluts”. (I can’t believe i missed that the first time around!)
I’m with you on thinking texting is amazing. My hearing sucks and I hate making phone calls, so text or email for everything is great!