How often do you call people to chat?

amother

Thu, Aug 29 2013, 2:47 pm

I'm totally embarrassed about this, but I never call people unless I need to tell them something that would be too long to text. I text people all the time, but some people in my life are not so handy with mobiles so it doesn't end up being that often. I'm thinking I should try to change this personality quirk/bad habit and start calling people, but I'm not sure of what's normal. How often do you call, and how long does each phone call last (and what do you SAY??!!) for;

mother
father
grandmother
grandfather
mother-in-law
father-in-law

And how do you handle phone calls with relatives who are hard of hearing or have other difficulties that make it hard for them to speak on the phone?
And what other relatives do you call on a regular basis?
And what is the best time of day to call someone to chat? I always feel like I'm intruding - a text can be sent whenever and answered whenever.

This sounds like such a dumb post because people call each other all the time right? Except me. I don't.
Posting as amother because reasons. embarrassed

amother

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 7:49 pm

amother wrote:

I hardly ever call people to chat, apart from my step mother, who I call once every two or three days because we're really close. I call her to tell her how my day went, what's going on, how I'm feeling and ask how she's getting along. She's the person I call if I need advice, cheering up, and so on.
I call my sister about once every other day.
I speak to my dad about once every three weeks/a month on the phone. He normally calls me because he's busy so when he has the time he'll call me to say hi and see how I'm doing.
I don't have any grandparents anymore even though I'm young.
There's no one else I talk to on the phone really, apart from rare type conversations with less close "acquaintances" on a more formal basis.
As for friends, I hardly ever talk to them on the phone, we just text, use facebook and Skype.
As for timing, if you are very close to them then really any time up till 10pm, it depends when they go to sleep though. Personally I'm up till 2am and happy for those people close to me to call up till then, sometimes my sister does. For anyone who's not close though this is totally unacceptable. About 8 or 9 is cut off point.
As for people with hearing difficulties, I am not sure but they could try wearing hearing aids. It is very hard with people who are deaf, sometimes it's better to wait to see them in person really.

I don't think it's a serious issue if you don't talk much on the phone, it's not a big deal. So long as you maintain your relationships by showing love in person, and in messages etc throughout the day/week , or whenever you happen to have contact with this person, the phone talking is not of any significance. Sometimes it's easier to communicate via email etc if it's someone you're not really close to, but if you feel like giving them a call I'm sure it would be a pleasant surprise! It's just how you feel, if you enjoy talking or prefer writing messages, and your relationship to them. There's no right or wrong.