Text Me
As seen in the November 2009 issue of Bella Magazine.
I’m not trying to be cool. I just am cool. I am a cool mom of teens. I’ve read Twilight. I say, “My bad.” I’ve recently painted my nails such a deep purple that in some lights it looks black. I am a Facebook friend to scores of teens and I love it. But there is one thing that continues to confound me as I attempt to stay relevant to the ever-changing culture of teenagers. Texting.
It’s one of those things that I swore I would never do. (I also swore I would never email and don’t even get me started on Facebook!) I distinctly remember arguing with my husband that I didn’t need a cell phone. What was I thinking? Now I don’t think we need a home phone any more. The cell phone is such a part of our happy home that nearly every month I am calling to increase our minutes. We are up to 10 zillion minutes a month and still using them up. So what’s a mom to do? Text.
At first my dear children whined, pleaded and begged for the ability to text. Like any respectable English Major with a concentration in Shakespeare, I refused. “It will ruin your ability to communicate!” I asserted. “Language is a requirement for society and increases your intellect.” Or some other yahdah yahdah like that. (Sometimes even I tune myself out when I start lecturing…) Truth be told, I didn’t understand that texting requires great skill and intelligence. Consider this. Who could succinctly communicate a future plan to continue the conversation in just four letters: TTYL? (Talk to you later.) Who was the Einstein who expressed great mirth with the popular anagram: ROTFL? (Rolling on the floor laughing.) And who came up with my favorite -- so simple it’s astute-- the abbreviated way to say that the plan is fine with me in just one cute letter: K? (Uh, you can figure that one out on your own.) As I saw texting in action, I started to see its great value.
Texting can be done anyplace BUT driving. If you value your life, for pity’s sake, keep your eyes on the road and your paws off the keyboard. Don’t text and drive. Once the car is safely parked, however, texting is a quick and silent way to communicate. You can text anywhere! You can text in the hospital! (Hi Claire and Ed!) You can text in the movies, although it is discouraged. (I recommend keeping your phone in your purse when you do it.) You can text in the bathroom and I suspect that you can text in class. Again, don’t do it! Yet it’s nice to know that if there was a National Emergency and you needed to locate your parents to tell them one last time that you love them, you could.
With young drivers on the road, I like to know that they’ve arrived at their destination in one piece. This is communicated to me daily through texts. I receive a text that says, “At school” or “At work.” I text back, “K.” Badda bing, badda boom, we’ve communicated, 21st century style. It’s sleek. Any fool can do it. Even a mom.
Now, as you suspect, there are some drawbacks to texting. It is oddly addictive. I know a thirteen-year-old who was texting her friends while her family gathered around to sing Happy Birthday to her. We can all agree that is unnecessary. Hey Birthday Girl! Next year, wait the thirty seconds until the song is over, would you, please? Texting, because it’s so abbreviated, does not say all that you want to say. It’s a billboard, not a poem. Yet teens are deluded into thinking “All we need is text.” Or was that love? Today young couples actually date solely through texting. Call me old-fashioned but we used to at least get a movie out of the deal. Relationships are started, carried out and ended all on texts without a single word spoken. Keep this up and we’ll lose the ability to speak.
As a parent of a teen, I don’t allow my kids to send pictures from their phones. This is good common sense but if you can’t imagine why, text me and I’ll explain it. This column is strictly rated PG. At home, we’ve had some issues with Runaway Texting while kids are supposed to be pursuing more wholesome activities such as sleeping. Since my name is on the cell phone contract, I reserve the right to read any outgoing or incoming texts at any time. (People who text the Byrds, beware! Mama Byrd is reading for comprehension and she knows almost all of the abbreviations!)
If you have teens and want to keep in touch with them, may I recommend texting? I hear that when they leave for college, it is the only way they communicate. I have until next fall when my first Byrd leaves the next. That’s good because it will take me until then to learn to use the Barbie sized keyboard with my middle-aged myopia. That’s all I have to say on this topic. Txt if u wnt 2 tlk.
I’m not trying to be cool. I just am cool. I am a cool mom of teens. I’ve read Twilight. I say, “My bad.” I’ve recently painted my nails such a deep purple that in some lights it looks black. I am a Facebook friend to scores of teens and I love it. But there is one thing that continues to confound me as I attempt to stay relevant to the ever-changing culture of teenagers. Texting.
It’s one of those things that I swore I would never do. (I also swore I would never email and don’t even get me started on Facebook!) I distinctly remember arguing with my husband that I didn’t need a cell phone. What was I thinking? Now I don’t think we need a home phone any more. The cell phone is such a part of our happy home that nearly every month I am calling to increase our minutes. We are up to 10 zillion minutes a month and still using them up. So what’s a mom to do? Text.
At first my dear children whined, pleaded and begged for the ability to text. Like any respectable English Major with a concentration in Shakespeare, I refused. “It will ruin your ability to communicate!” I asserted. “Language is a requirement for society and increases your intellect.” Or some other yahdah yahdah like that. (Sometimes even I tune myself out when I start lecturing…) Truth be told, I didn’t understand that texting requires great skill and intelligence. Consider this. Who could succinctly communicate a future plan to continue the conversation in just four letters: TTYL? (Talk to you later.) Who was the Einstein who expressed great mirth with the popular anagram: ROTFL? (Rolling on the floor laughing.) And who came up with my favorite -- so simple it’s astute-- the abbreviated way to say that the plan is fine with me in just one cute letter: K? (Uh, you can figure that one out on your own.) As I saw texting in action, I started to see its great value.
Texting can be done anyplace BUT driving. If you value your life, for pity’s sake, keep your eyes on the road and your paws off the keyboard. Don’t text and drive. Once the car is safely parked, however, texting is a quick and silent way to communicate. You can text anywhere! You can text in the hospital! (Hi Claire and Ed!) You can text in the movies, although it is discouraged. (I recommend keeping your phone in your purse when you do it.) You can text in the bathroom and I suspect that you can text in class. Again, don’t do it! Yet it’s nice to know that if there was a National Emergency and you needed to locate your parents to tell them one last time that you love them, you could.
With young drivers on the road, I like to know that they’ve arrived at their destination in one piece. This is communicated to me daily through texts. I receive a text that says, “At school” or “At work.” I text back, “K.” Badda bing, badda boom, we’ve communicated, 21st century style. It’s sleek. Any fool can do it. Even a mom.
Now, as you suspect, there are some drawbacks to texting. It is oddly addictive. I know a thirteen-year-old who was texting her friends while her family gathered around to sing Happy Birthday to her. We can all agree that is unnecessary. Hey Birthday Girl! Next year, wait the thirty seconds until the song is over, would you, please? Texting, because it’s so abbreviated, does not say all that you want to say. It’s a billboard, not a poem. Yet teens are deluded into thinking “All we need is text.” Or was that love? Today young couples actually date solely through texting. Call me old-fashioned but we used to at least get a movie out of the deal. Relationships are started, carried out and ended all on texts without a single word spoken. Keep this up and we’ll lose the ability to speak.
As a parent of a teen, I don’t allow my kids to send pictures from their phones. This is good common sense but if you can’t imagine why, text me and I’ll explain it. This column is strictly rated PG. At home, we’ve had some issues with Runaway Texting while kids are supposed to be pursuing more wholesome activities such as sleeping. Since my name is on the cell phone contract, I reserve the right to read any outgoing or incoming texts at any time. (People who text the Byrds, beware! Mama Byrd is reading for comprehension and she knows almost all of the abbreviations!)
If you have teens and want to keep in touch with them, may I recommend texting? I hear that when they leave for college, it is the only way they communicate. I have until next fall when my first Byrd leaves the next. That’s good because it will take me until then to learn to use the Barbie sized keyboard with my middle-aged myopia. That’s all I have to say on this topic. Txt if u wnt 2 tlk.
Martie Smith Byrd lives with her husband Dave and their five teenagers in Roanoke, Virginia. She is saving her pennies to buy a cell phone with a real keyboard! Check out her books on Amazon.com.
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