School is just around the corner and I’ve been trying to figure out a way to keep in touch with my kids. Up until now things have been easy. They haven’t wandered far and school activities have been limited. But man….. Things are changing.
I had no idea how I was going to manage to stay in touch with them (until now, Straight Talk Wireless) through every work-packed, school-slammed, sports-capped day we have ahead of us. It makes me wonder how my mom did it when I was younger.
What magical formula did she use as her survival guide to the full-time business that is the school year?
I present to you, the history of my parents trying to stay in touch when I was on-the-go through the decades…
1970’s
Ah, the good old 70’s. I only lived through a small portion of this decade, but I’m sure it was an exciting time. I’ll have to simply imagine what my parents had to go through in order to stay connected with me. As I was only 3 when the decade ended, I’d assume it went something like this:
“Joe, I’m in the middle of my favorite episode of “The Rockford Files”, can you check to make sure Patrick isn’t climbing on anything right now? I wish someone would invent a way to pause this freakin’ thing!”
NOTE: I’d be subsequently located with almost no problem at all given my natural propensity for outrageous volumes.
1980’s
Things got a little more tricky here. Early on, it was much the of same (though the conversation would have shifted from Jim Rockford as my mom’s crush to mega-hunk Magnum P.I.), however later in the decade, locating me required a touch of effort.
At first, my freedoms ran as far as my mom’s voice could carry. Typically, three houses to the right and the end of the Kaplan’s yard to the left.
Had I crossed those imaginary boundaries, I was in for it. As I got a bit older though, she could stay in contact with me in one of two ways. Look out the front door until I zipped by on my super-rad powder blue bike with a banana seat, or call Roy at Comic Cottage just around the corner and tell him to send me home…
ROY: “He said after this last quarter on Double Dragon…”
ROY (pulls phone away from ear to distance from the yelling): “Right…ok…”
ROY (to me): “She said NOW!”
1990’s
The 90’s started to afford new opportunities for staying connected. We finally got a wireless home phone and most people had call waiting!! What a time to be alive!
Thanks to this invention, whenever my mom called the Crowley’s house, I could bank on stretching my time there by a solid 30 minutes as she talked to my friend’s mom. But what about when I was out and about?
Later in the 90’s, the magic of the beeper came into existence. A device I can proudly say that I never owned…. (despite desperately wanting one at the time.)
This connection was always a convoluted series of relayed messages that my parents had to go through…
- Beep Rich.
- Rich calls my parents.
- I’m not with him.
- Rich beeps Frankie.
- Frankie calls Rich.
- Frankie isn’t with me. He thinks I might be in Brooklyn, but don’t tell Patrick’s mom that.
- Frankie calls Gerber.
- Gerber knows where I am. He can call someone there and get me in touch with home.
- I get to a payphone in Brooklyn and tell my mom I’m across town and will head home soon.
- I desperately race to the train so I’m not busted.
2000’s
This is when things finally started falling into place.
Cell phones were no longer on the fringe (though I was a hold-out far longer than most people.) Suddenly we had instant options. Call someone and immediately talk to them, or the always preferable “send them a text to avoid inane chatter”. At this point I am a full fledged adult and I’m not about to be told by my parents where I need to be or what I could ———- “Yes, mom. You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”
Present Day, 2017.
Well, now we’re at the latter half of the 2010’s (if you read that as ‘twenty-tens’ you need to re-think your life choices) and my focus has shifted from being the one my parents needed to connect with, to being the parent on a constant search for my two older kids.
With school coming up I needed a better method than hollering out the door and blindly skateboarding the neighborhood to track them down.
I didn’t think this time would come so soon…
Aren’t all kids supposed to have their first phone at 25 like I did?? Evidently, the times have changed. I can’t rely on the old standards for keeping in touch. Too much is happening now and too many wheels turning. Play practice and baseball and swim lessons and school and grocery shopping and two parents working from home…..
There’s just no way to manage it. But maybe we can manage the cost of a cell phone plan?? I didn’t think this option would be viable just to essentially call them when I need them to come home. I’d rather get two cans and a whole lot of string for them to carry around.
Luckily, I discovered Straight Talk Wireless. This was a weight off my shoulders. I’m able to get my kids some of the best phones out there and the latest smartphones.
As much as I’d love to hand them my old Clamshell phone from 2008 for laughs, I guess I should go for a new Samsung Galaxy S8. Straight Talk offers nationwide coverage on the largest and most dependable networks. Just in time for school, Straight Talk has added more high-speed data to its best phone plans. You can get unlimited talk, text and the first 8GB of high-speed data then 2G* for $45 or bump it to 12GB of high-speed data then 2G* for $55. These little kiddos won’t be able to play the “I had no service” card with me when I need to get in touch with them. And best of all, I’ll be saving some money with unlimited plans at $45 and $55 a month.
Amazing.
Now I won’t be breaking the bank just to keep our ever-evolving school year schedules moving along.
Sometimes I feel like I have it too easy now. Not only can I get in touch with my kids far more easily than my parents ever had with me, but I’ll be doing it for less than I would have imagined. I think I need to go write a Thank You card to my mom right now. I honestly don’t know how she did it.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Straight Talk Wireless and their #StraightToSchool campaign, however the nostalgia and geeky photos are ALL MINE. For more information on Straight Talk AND their wireless plans visit StraightTalk.com and check them out HERE, on Facebook and Twitter! *At 2G speeds, the functionality of some data applications, such as streaming audio or video may be affected. Please refer always to the latest Terms and Conditions of Service at StraightTalk.com.
*At 2G speeds, the functionality of some data applications, such as streaming audio or video may be affected. Please refer always to the latest Terms and Conditions of Service at StraightTalk.com.