It only takes a few seconds if you are good at it.  If you are a newbie it might take a few minutes.  But, taking the time to send an occasional text to your kids can help you maintain a positive relationship with them.

It took me awhile to join the texting craze.  “Why spend the time to punch in a message when it would be easier and quicker to talk to the person on the phone?”  I always asked.  My kids would just roll their eyes and tell me that I just didn’t “get it.”  Part of my reluctance, I readily admit, was because I simply didn’t know how to text.

One day my daughters sat me down and gave me a texting lesson.  I was very s-l-o-w, but I learned the basics.  The excitement of my daughters at having taught Mom how to text was enough to keep me trying.  I had to endure much teasing and laughing at my expense though, as I tried to master the mysterious technological world of texting. 

My daughter and her softball team, unknown to me, watched me at a softball tournament as I was trying to send a text to another daughter at home.  They thought it quite funny that I only use one hand to text, which really slows one down.  I didn’t catch on that they were watching me until my daughter hollered, “Hey Mom, whatcha doin’?”  When I looked up they all waved and laughed. 

I waved the phone and proudly said, “Texting!”

I made mistakes in the beginning.  Once, my daughter sent me a text that she thought quite funny.  I attempted to send the word “Dork” back (a term of endearment in our family), but my phone was set in the word recognition mode and wouldn’t recognize the word dork.  It kept showing Fork everytime I tried to punch in Dork.  I didn’t know how to go into the spell mode so I finally gave up and sent “Fork” knowing my daughter would know what I meant. 

She tells me she laughed out loud when she received that text.  She quickly sent her reply, “Spoon!” 

It has now become a joke in our family.  Whenever someone does something silly we call them a fork.  I did finally learn how to put my phone in spell mode, but I still haven’t learned how to get it out of ALL CAPS when I am spelling a word the phone doesn’t recognize.  My kids tell me that they can always tell when I have had to spell a new word because the text YELLS at them!

I’ve gotten comfortable enough with texting that I now send occasional random texts to my kids.  Sometimes a stupid joke, “What kind of bedding do gingerbread men use?  Cookie sheets!  Ha ha ha!”  Or I use a text to check up on my kids, like the time I asked two of my daugthers, “How’s your shirt?”  because they’d each left to school in shirts that had the potential to be immodest if not kept pulled up.   Sometimes I send a simple, “I love you!”

I didn’t know if my efforts were having any effect until I overheard my daughters talking with someone else.  They had mentioned that I had sent a text that day.  “Your mom sends you texts?”

“Yeah, every once in awhile she will send something totally random.”  There was silence.

Then Mack said, “Sometimes it makes my day.”

“Yeah,” said Huh.  “I like that my mom sends texts.”

A simple action, and alot of teasing endured, but it has been worth it.  “Send yr teen a txt.”  It just might make their day!