Saturday, April 4, 2009

all the technology in the world...


We all got new phones last week. This hadn't actually been part of the plan, but circumstances kind of worked against me and I gave in. Some of the circumstances even worked for me, to tell the truth, so giving in wasn't as miserable as it could have been. Surfer Dude's phone going through the washing machine - and the potential cost to replace it - was the last straw and a really amazing employee discount was the carrot.


I broke down and got myself a "smart phone", which has quickly become my default brain. Who knew you could manage a calendar on both your computer and your phone simultaneously? (Only the millions of people who aren't as technologically challenged as I am.) Who knew that you could sit in your car and check your email? Or post a status update on Facebook? Not me, that's for sure. I even gave in and got unlimited texting, which has led to my children sitting on the same sofa and texting each other inecessently. I've freely admitted that my kids have phones for my benefit, since I like to be able to get them on the horn when I want them. We all know I'm paranoid, and it makes me happy to know they're reachabe. We went with the bells and whistles plan, and thanks to my employee discount are paying bargain basement prices. What the hell, I figured. If you're going to be "connected" and "in touch", might as well go whole hog.


But.


There's always a but, isn't there? I've hit some kind of a wall this week and can barely keep myself awake at the moment, so every time my phone pings at me to let me know I have a new message, I just stare at it helplessly. I haven't posted on Facebook in over a week, my emails and messages are piling up - including some I really want to respond to - and I just sit there paralyzed. I'm getting to the gym and wrangling my kids. Other than that, I'm absolutely useless. This has got to stop. Soon.


And here I sit, looking longingly at my bed, waiting on not one, but two children to contact me somehow, anyhow - text, phone, carrier pigeon - to let me know what their plans are and how their school overnighter is going...and nothing. I've texted, I've called, I've paced, I've worried myself into a lather. Nothing. The phones aren't being answered and neither are the texts. The fact that Sasquatch hasn't called isn't really surprising, and I know where he is (or at least where he's supposed to be), but Gumby is throwing me off kilter. He's texted me off and on all day, and now, when he knows he's supposed to check in - nothing. I'd like to say it's not like him, but he did get the genetic absent minded gene. I just have the worrywart gene.


Gee. I sure am glad I've made it so easy for us all to stay in touch.

*************************************************************************************
Update: Sasquatch is home - with an uncharged phone and a cheesy apology. Still no word from Gumby. Grrr.

13 comments:

Irene said...

It's really not that much fun, is it? Now that you can contact them constantly, figuratively speaking, and they you, you want to be able to do it all the time and not just sometimes or once in a while. I would be the same way and worry myself silly if I could not. Kids' minds don't work the same way as ours. They don't lie awake worrying and imagining what could be wrong.

ped crossing said...

I have marched down to school and peeked in the window to make sure sweetP made it to school when he forgot to call. He had to have mommy walk him to school for a week after so he would remember.

Hope Gumby checks in soon.

lv4921391 said...

it might have been easier to have been a parent without (before) cell phones...my kids had the 3rd degree before leaving the house...i made sure the other parents expected (approved) them to be there...it's nerve racking...good luck RC.

Maggie May said...

Hope Gumby texts soon.
I guess we never stop worrying about our kids and grand kids.
That blasted worrying gene..... I got it too!

Kim said...

Turn. Off. Your. Phone.

With your tendencies, the last thing you need is to be superconnected. When the boys don't call (your hard line, by the way), ground them.

Works for me.

lebanesa said...

I guess you are not toooo bad -
I recall seeing a woman on TV who was trying to get her kids chipped, so that she would be able to track them - for their own protection, of course. I think one of them was still a baby, so unlikely to wander far just yet, and the other was a very young child. She wanted to do it now so that she wouldn't have a battle when they hit their teens... LOL LOL LOL - mothers. argh....

the rotten correspondent said...

Sasquatch rolled in the door right after I posted and then I finally got Gumby to pick up his phone about half an hour later. Sorry, mom, said he, I couldn't find my phone.

Can we just say that his ears may still be burning and that he texted me at the crack of dawn today to let me know they were off to the competetion??

Devon said...

When my 12 year old is out of touch it is almost always a dead battery! I've taken to charging the phone for her when I know I'm going to be a little anxious about where she is...

aims said...

I don't do Facebook or Twitter or any of that stuff. I just can't be bothered and really don't want to follow every move of everyone I know.

I want to have my own life.

I do answer emails - ahem - :0) but I have refused all requests to join this that and the other thing. One can only spread oneself so far.

I know you do Facebook so that your family and friends know what you are up to because you are such a lousy correspondent.

But see - the apples aren't falling that far from the tree are they!

(your worrying your 6 days off away girl - give it up)

Rositta said...

I think there's such a thing as technology overload. I go on facebook so seldom I'm thinking of shutting it down and twitter, now that's kind of weird in my mind. I refuse to text and have a very simple cell phone when away from home. Blogging is just about enough for me...ciao

Anonymous said...

It is a mixed bag. At times I love it, other times I hate it. Overall, I wouldn't get rid of it now for anything. It does keep me in touch with the girls, especially Chrisite who has it glued to her hip. The other 2 aren't as into it, and keep forgetting to charge it.

I know the worrying game well. I hope they get better at responding, cause it our heart of hearts, we know this is the real reason why we own this technology.

Cath said...

Hope he is safe.
It is so hard work. I am right with you on this one. My son laughs and asks if he will be allowed to leave home when he marries. ;0)

I still wait up to see that he is safe and he is almost 20. But he is far more responsible now and at least answers his phone. :)

Deanna Bland Hiott PhD, MSN, RN said...

Is this your life or mine? Remember how we deluded ourselves when they were babies that it would get easier as they got older; someday we would get to sleep again. Ha! Oh my, oh my, sweet denial; ignorance really is bliss. I feel your pain. P.S. Want to watch a really bad drug withdrawal? Take their phone for a few days or even a few hours...