THE MAGICAL, MYSTICAL TELEPHONE

Chatting for periods of time on the phone has always seemed fruitless to me. Even when I was a teenager the whole idea of sitting around the house with a phone attached to my ear just seemed ridiculous. Why? I'm not quite sure exactly, all I know is that I do not enjoy talking on the phone. So there you have it.

I am not a "phone person."

All of that said, over the past few years I've made many, many friends. I'm not talking about acquaintances here; I'm talking about friends. These gals are the type of friends who know my faults and don't care for beans that I have them. We all like each other and that's the end of that story.

All of them know that I have an aversion to the telephone and, they love me anyway. A few have tried to call and chat but when they got neither an answer nor a recording they realized that Shelly is an email and/or in person communicator. They let me email them back to my heart's content, come over to visit or wait for our Mom's Night Out to catch up with life. They don't take offense when I don't call them and that does my heart good because I know that the friends in my life, well...they "get" me. :o)

I have this one friend though; she just does not care. She calls me, a lot. She does not care that I don't answer the phone. She has done this for a long time. She never gets annoyed, tired or upset that I don't answer the phone and she even knows that I will never call her back. She couldn't care less. She calls and calls. I see her name on the caller ID now and then as I flip through to delete the telemarketers and I think, 'Wow, she must think I'll answer someday.' LOL

Well, the short of it is that she wore me down. A few weeks ago I heard the phone ring and I did something amazing. I got up, walked over to the phone, looked at the caller ID and... I ... Shelly... Answered The Phone!

Now, this is not going to become a habit. I do not usually do this. I'm not saying that I will ever answer the phone again but...on occasion...for the past few weeks...I've answered the phone and chatted. I've laughed and I sort of got a kick out of myself. The conversation never got into gossip and we actually talked about life and had a good bit of friendly chitter to go along with the chatter...But I digress...

So, I've said all of this to say...

I was on the phone the other day when Daxx walked into the room. I told him I would be right with him but needed some time alone because "I was on the phone." He walked out of the room and what I heard coming from the other room can be described as nothing less than utter chaos!

I thought that the house was falling down. I promptly got off the phone, walked into the living room and asked what in the world was going on. They all noticed that I was no longer on the phone and stopped cold in their tracks. You would have thought I had just regained my eyesight or had arisen from my wheelchair for the first time in years! My presence, minus the phone to my ear, meant that mommy had her full attention on them now. Hmmm....

What in the world did they think was going to happen? Did they think I would be indisposed forever? Did they think the telephone was some sort of memory altering device that would render me unable to discipline them for their couch jumping, toy throwing, food-eating-in-the-living-room, diabolical craziness?

So, they realized that televisions can be unplugged, phones eventually will be hung up and momma doesn't like rule-breaking, bomb-going-off-loudness in the house when she asks for a bit of peace and quiet so she can plan THEIR play date for next week!

If this is what they do when I'm on the phone, what do they do when I'm gone completely? I am about to Google parenting. Wish me luck!