The sounds of little voices
My oldest daughter will turn 8 next week and we were recently discussing what she wanted for her birthday present. As with most of our conversations revolving around gifts and presents she resurrected he ever evolving question of “so how old again, daddy, do I need to be to have my own cell phone?” Cell phone is an umbrella term as what she really means is when do I get my own iPhone. My repetitive response is usually “your mother and father did not receive an iPhone until they were 29 and 30 respectfully so we feel that is a good age for you as well.” This is generally fun banter for me as I know that is not a realistic expectation because there will be a time where she will indeed have a smartphone at a much younger age. At our most recent conversation, she said something different that her normal which caught me a little by surprise but with also great pride. She went on to tell me that she knows that she doesn’t need a cell phone right now because her daddy prefers to have a personal conversation. I had to hold back the tears of a father who was so glad to know that what he has been preaching to his children had not been lost on deaf ears – well, at least to 1 of the 3. I am glad my almost 8-year-old 2nd grader – even with all of the technology that is overwhelming her – she can know that a personal conversation is one of the best forms of communication. I know that my parents love hearing my voice and I try to choose the phone call over the text message to them. While I am sometimes guilty of choosing the latter, I know that my mother truly appreciates when her phone rings and it is me on the other end.
There was a recent article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the power of personal conversations. The Big Benefits of a Little Small Talk was the title of the article. A few of the nuggets of advice they list are below:
find common ground + commiserate + go deep + embrace ignorance + ask interesting questions + exit gracefully
I hope to continue to have moments where my daughters want to have conversations with me. I know that each day that I drive them to school and chat on the ride is one less day that I get to do that in the future. My prayer is that I savor each moment and make the most of the time they are with me and I get to hear their voice on a daily basis.
