Communication
Many of you have asked how a technology-obsessed family like mine communicates. Well the answer is not very well. This is because…
- Ali doesn’t listen to me. He claims it’s because he has a “genetic hearing problem” but I think the real issue is that what I have to say is simply not as interesting as whatever info his laptop/iPhone/VCU/Blackberry is churning out.
- I don’t listen to Ali. This is because when he finally tears himself away from his laptop/iPhone/VCU/Blackberry for a few seconds, I am too annoyed to talk to him.
- Maya won’t stop talking. On the very rare occasion that the stars are aligned, timing cooperates, and Ali and I actually have a moment to converse, we simply can’t get a word in edgewise.
So how do two people who occasionally need to communicate manage to do so? Well it’s simple – we utilize the wonderful world of text and instant messages.
This particular IM was sent from our living room - approximately 12 feet away from my office.
Laugh all you want! But the truth is that not only is this method extremely convenient and efficient, it also provides a written record of what was said! This means that one can always revert back to the text/IM history when one need to prove one did or did not say something. And I’m sure I don’t need to point out that this happens often around here.
The only drawback? When Ali finally files for divorce I fear my records can be subpoenaed…
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Oh boy- I would be way too scared of the written record being used against me to do that!
Ah it is too much romance for one morning daaaahling LOL. Still I guess its better than what I do: screaming. Hubbs is always downstairs playing on his silly x box and I am always at the top of my lungs trying to get him to hear me from upstairs amongst all the “killing” noises.
*kisses* HH
When you figure out the magic of getting a young child to hush up (other than Nyquil ;-)) please let me know. I have many teacher friends that would pay good money for those magic beans.
Hubby and I have seriously IM-ed eachother from the same couch. To our defense, the holy terror was asleep on said couch and we weren’t going to even risk waking him up. So instead we argued (silently) over who was going to be the lucky one to move him to his room. Parents of the year 😉
LOL. You’re not alone is using this form of communication. Of this I’m sure. 🙂
🙂
Yeah- since i started to blog, Rita is teasing me about laptops has taken over her slot of time spend .. she is got annoyed yesterday lol.
I’m trying to persuade here to blog something too.
Cheers,
Ganesh
🙂
Yeah- since i started to blog, Rita is teasing me about laptops has taken over her slot of time spend .. she is got annoyed yesterday lol.
I’m trying to persuade here to blog something too.
Cheers,
GaneshMuthiah
This is hilarious. I try to commnicate with my Husband via email or texts, but somehow he seems to “not get them” unless the message is: “PTA had a cookie exchange today – bringing home lots of goodies!”
He sure got that one real fast.
Too funny, Ameena! I wonder if Ali and Mike are long-lost twins. Too often I’ll be in my study and he’ll be in his (which is in the next room) and he’ll IM me, lol!
Oh my, the wonderful world of “new-age Marriage” :).
I don’t even like to talk on the phone anymore. Text me, or risk not hearing back from me at all. Your choice.
hahahah! too funny!
i’m like amy though: i don’t like to talk on the phone at all. sometimes i’ll get a call, not answer and the person will immediately text me and i’ll immediately respond. so they know i’m with my phone but i’m just not answering hahah. oops.
You are definitely not alone in this. Some days my husband and I gchat more than we actually talk. It’s kinda sad now that I type that out! 🙂
I LOVE IT! lol. me and my sister do that all the time.
Hey, I get it! Teaching my dad how to text message changed our relationship. No joke.
And thank you so much for your comment on my blog the other day. It’s so great to know I have the support of this wonderful community!
I wonder how men can come up with “genetic” problems like these. My husband develops random allergies just because he does not want to do something..Men!
And the chat thing, well sometimes I am cooking and he is in the office and because he wants water without moving he’ll IM or text his full time nanny (Me!) to do that!
When my husband’s sucked into his phone or iPad or computer, I’ll email him to get his attention. It’s the easiest way to get a fast response. Talking just gets me “mmm” or “mumblemumble.”
No, you must be talking about MY husband. You just described my life.
I hate to email, text or im but i was left with no choice, my husband responds best to those than to my voice.
it will be ali who has has to be careful about the records. i mean husbands are too lazy to even remember what the wife said, leave alone searching the records. but all the wives have an inherent talent to remember every single thing, well. i feel blessed to have that.
Thank you for visiting my blog. it’s encouraging.
“mayas sing thing”. so cute! you guys are funny but hey, whatever works!!
“Maya’s sing thing”….so descriptive, aren’t they?!
And I gotta admit, I’m jealous. The stars never align just right over here for Tater to be quiet for more than about 15 seconds.
Heh, this makes total sense. The hubster and I send each other emails all the time. I forget what they say right after I read them so the written record doesn’t help me at all. Maybe texting is the way to go? The constantly pinging reminder should be good.
You are a genius. That is all.
This must solve SO many “were you in the same conversation I was in?” issues.
hehehehhehe
I love it!
my husband and I are in the ESP mode so IM is not necessary.
last night I came home and he was paying a bill on-line …freaking because he couldn’t log in and remember all the questions we put in to prove it’s US and that kind of thing. I was catching up with JJ and I looked at him, he looked at me and I said “Pizza?”
He shook his head. I was JUST GOING TO SAY THAT.
so it saves me some typing.
WE text a little…I guess we are old fashioned still in that area. (SHEW one thing) but we are often all logged in to our respective devices: Xbox, iPad, iPod, and now our new blu-ray player has wi-fi so one of us is streaming something on netflix at the same time.
I say things like ‘thingy-majigger” and so the “sing thing” makes me laugh.
That’s so funny! But hey…whatever works. I am actually still amused that hubby and I are facebook friends. it took us a while to do that. every now and then for one reason or another we will message each other through that and be in the same house and it’s just funny! what would we do without technology. oh….talk. in person!!
YOur blog records will be at least 😉
We talk through text all the time. WE do this even when we at home and in different rooms. When we are tired after a long day at work, and at the edge of getting annoyed with each other (which is like often. Alright like everyday) talking though chat is like a blessing. hehe
love it! exactly how we communicate in our household too 🙂
i like how he calls it a ‘sing thing’. lol.
I would FAR rather talk to my boyfriend via instant message than in person sometimes. It would just be easier.
Hahaha! I should start communicating with dear hubby this way. He’s always denying he said something!
Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Much appreciated! Small world, too!
Haha I do that with my boyfriend all the time when we are studying:)
Oh that goodness for texting… I don’t think my marriage would survive without it. Especially when I get to let him know, in advance, that he’s being a d-bag and should come with (or if hes home, come up with) something nice to say/do or i’m going to pout. It also prevents me from having to him pout when said name-calling takes place.
phew!
xoXOxo
You really are too funny 🙂 Whatever works. You look very fancy and professional using that spreadsheet behind the IM!
Hahaha Ameena you crack me up!
Dan and I talk through text and G-chat quite often. I agree that the record is always a helpful tie breaker of the game ‘who said what’ and more importantly the response time doesn’t kill me as much as his silent moments when I ask a question in person. 😉
abe and i have been guilty of this as well. however, he once did a documentary about computer geeks and since two of those “subjects” admitted to doing this, we try not to do it too often. so we can’t call ourselves “geeks.”
We email a good bit. IM takes me back to the days we used to wile away the hours typing to each other in college. I’m just not that interesting anymore.
fyi read every single one of your posts…but I dont comment all the time cause I’m usually either dying from laughing or taking marriage and mom tips from you…you know…for the lawyers.
Ha!! Adam and I do the same thing, except we use the intercom system on our home phone set to talk to each other when someone’s upstairs. And we can usually hear each other through the stairwell…
Whatever works 😉
I think lots of people communicate this way now! I love email! But, ya, there is that “written record” part of it… Hmmm…
Ali- such a sweet-talker!
We use email constantly. We will be sitting on the couch next to each other:
Derek: Can you call Mary to arrange for pet sitting?
Deb: Can you send me an email to remind me?
Derek: Sure
Deb: Thanks.
That’s our life. Actually with gmail, it’s FABULOUS because if there’s ever a question about anything, you just search one word you know was in the email and boom. It’s there.
PS I forgot to mention last post I LOVE LOVE LOVE your highrise viewsssss!
I think it’s fun to text someone in the same room. Am I lame? I saw this definition today …a geek is someone who’s IQ is higher than their weight. Oopsie! Time to lose weight if I don’t want to turn in my GurlGeek kard.
loveeeeeee it.
i liked the person’s comment above htat said “this is too much romance for one morning”
i find it SO much easier to communicate with my fam via email/text (cept that my mom takes a good 10 minutes to write a five-letter-word via text), taking the emotions out of conversation can definitely come in handy.
oh and um its so cold here right now Ameena. You’re crazy to wish you were here instead of in sunny CA.
Thankfully, my parent know no technology. They barely know how to get to my blog and they have no idea how to text message either. I usually don’t save my IM files, but now I can see why they would come in handy! 😉
Love this! The husband and I normally communicate via text 😉
Jen
This post cracks me up because I totally get it. While my fellow and I do converse in really life, we often use the “sticky note” option on my Mac to communicate.
Also, thanks for coming out of “lurkdum” to visit my blog! Your comment was too cute!
Haha, I love it. That is awesome that there is always a written transcript of how the conversation really went down.
Oh sweet lady! I will admit that we’ve *so* done that! Unfortunately, I also have to admit that I was not clever enough to use texts, etc as proof! Or ammo! Well done, lady! I totally learned my “something new” for the day right here! 🙂
Yep, we do the same thing. He texts me, e-mails me, IMs me and we’re in the same house. Sometimes he even calls me on the phone from downstairs. I do the same. It’s the new “not yelling throughout the house” thing.
Regarding #3, buy the jumbo size bottle of aspirin. I do and it’s helped tremendously.
smooches.
“Sing-thing” I love it! This is exactly how Ryan and I might interact if we had a young one. I have found that Ryan can be quite sweet over text messages…I still struggle with remembering to respond. Poor guy is often left without a word from my end for hours! Thanks for sharing, sweet woman. I’m liking your new blog header!
I will at least give you and Ali credit for saying “hi” before getting to the point. There’s hope for you yet! 🙂
Clear case – a technology obsessed family communicates via technology! 😉
Ever since my bf got an iPad he hasn’t been listening to me either so 1. & 2. are happening here too 😀
I was going to say, with the written word, you can always prove what they did promise 😉
Thank god Maya is mastering the art of conversation at an early age. When in doubt, just bulldoze your way over everybody else.
Because you make me laugh so much and share such a wonderful glimpse into your family, I’ve given you an award. You just have to head to my post to claim it. Thanks for blogging!
As much as I love face to face conversations, I tend to go towards the technological route most of the time. Right now, I’m trying to convert my mom to the world of text messages and IMs. Let’s just say it’s an ongoing process.
LOL rolling on the floor here with tears.
my husband and I communicate better when we’re apart from each other through phone and text msg’ing. is it marriage? before marriage we just wanted to lose the phone talk and live together so we can communicate more and now……?? lol
This is funny! I think having more written records could be an advantage for me! My boyfriend forgets everything I say.
Despite your request, I totally laughed reading this! My husband and I have a similar relationship! 🙂 Except any silent time is filled up with TV. 🙂
I love that you have pie graphs behind your chat screen.
Oh my gosh, you’re hilarious!! I have to say, I often text my husband with important info b/c 1.we just didn’t have time to talk or 2. the kids were too loud to talk over
I say…whatever works! 🙂
Hilarious and so true! I communicate with my son on skype even if he is at home or in Europe, thousands of mile away! As for a husband, I don’t have one anymore, that solves the problem!
Not alone with this one Ameena 🙂 Love a good IM convo 🙂
Haha, gotta love technology 🙂
We are a technology family too…only way to go 🙂
Despite your request, I totally laughed reading this! My husband and I have a similar relationship! 🙂 Except any silent time is filled up with TV. 🙂 I love that you have pie graphs behind your chat screen.