How to Text with Your Teens

According to news reports, Olympic phenom Michael Phelps rarely calls his doting mom Debbie -- but the two are gold-medal-caliber text messagers. Barack Obama announced his running mate via text, and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood ended a relationship with one. Statistics show that the average teenager gets or sends well over 1,500 texts a month. Clearly, texting is a form of communication whose time has come.

You may be wondering why anyone would go to the trouble of texting instead of making a quick phone call. I used to ask myself the same question. But I have three kids, ages 15, 13, and 11, and more and more, because of school, sports, and work commitments, we find ourselves in different places. Before I knew it, I found myself tapping out messages on my cell, using "r" instead of "are," and "u" instead of "you," even though I swore I would never do such a thing.

For me it started last summer when my husband, two daughters, and I went to Atlanta to visit cousins, leaving my 13-year-old son back in New Jersey with friends due to unexpected baseball playoff games. "Hey bud. What r u doing now?" I tapped and sent. His reply came as swiftly as I'd hoped: "At Kev's, we're gonna swim." We back-and-forthed snippets throughout the day, helping us both feel a little better about the miles in between. He sent me a photo of his bruised finger, hurt that morning; I sympathized and advised, typing "Ouch!" and "Ice it!" Admittedly, I was reluctant to get into texting, worried about the budget impact of multiple phones and messaging plans. But now I'm a big fan, and I love the instant connection of a text exchange with my teen.