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Do your adult children maintain similar contact with both of you?

(13 Posts)
grannyactivist Sat 09-Oct-21 20:54:52

Our family have several WhatsApp groups so there’s not a day goes by without messages being exchanged with family members, but additionally my husband and I both have regular calls from our children separately. We don’t have a landline and so our children choose who they’re calling rather than getting pot luck with a landline, but I would guess that we both get a similar number of calls each from both our sons and our daughters.

I suppose I’ve never really thought about it much, but earlier in the week someone mentioned to me that she thought it was rare for adult children to have sort of equal communication with both parents. She said as an example that she has a good relationship with her dad, although she rarely has a private conversation with him, but she often speaks to her mum and that’s how family news is exchanged. She said her friends also tend to favour communication with one parent over another.

The context of our conversation was that my acquaintance had been surprised (actually was quite shocked) that my daughters had told my husband things that he subsequently related to me. She thinks it’s unusual for there to be similar contact with both parents.

So, it got me wondering……..what’s your experience? hmm

love0c Sat 09-Oct-21 20:58:50

I would say yes, the same. However for different reasons in away. Me, arranging grand children care, maybe getting things, food at a particular shop, sometimes clothing. Husband, helping with jobs in their homes, taxi service smile borrowing tools and garden stuff. We each have 'our place'.

M0nica Sat 09-Oct-21 21:23:43

When AC ring they chat with who ever answers the phone and when that chat is over the phone is passed to the other parent to have their chat. News gets given to both but when speaking to me the phone call is more likely to wander onto other subjects .

lemongrove Sat 09-Oct-21 22:47:10

Same as Monica
And when our AC are actually here ( which seems to be most of the time as they live locally) they chat equally to both of us about all sorts of subjects.

Marydoll Sat 09-Oct-21 22:54:05

Same as Monica and we also do WhatsApp video calls. We have separate groups for each child with their partner, but also a family group chat.
My daughter tends to use the landline, but my sons use mobiles.

JaneJudge Sat 09-Oct-21 22:57:02

we do a variety of things. Ignore your friends comments

CafeAuLait Sat 09-Oct-21 23:32:08

It's different but not preferential. My AC will come to me if they need support or to talk about a situation. I tend to get longer visits with them. My DH probably gets more frequent short visits at coffee shops because he works close to their workplaces and I don't. They contact me to organise visits with us both.

Ohmother Sat 09-Oct-21 23:42:07

My AS tends to contact me and my AD tends to contact my DH. I wondered today wether they’d once had a conversation about sharing the burden of contact. ?. My DH and I share the info from them with each other. It keeps us talking ?

Curlywhirly Sun 10-Oct-21 00:54:58

Our boys ring their dad if they have a financial/work/DIY problem; they ring me for all other problems! But they do also ring to see how we are if we haven't spoken for a couple of days. And how the tables have turned - if for some reason we don't answer the phone (landline or mobile) when they do eventually make contact we are grilled on where the hell we have been and why don't we answer the blummin' phone!

Hetty58 Sun 10-Oct-21 03:51:12

Curlywhirly, mine know that I rarely answer the phone. Their dad died when they were young so that situation of who they talk to didn't arise.

They tend to text or email sometime during the week - just to check that I'm not dead (family joke) then we do a Sunday morning Zoom session. I know they contact each other to check who's heard from me.

I was shocked to discover that my friend's husband reads her emails and texts, though. I'd hate that!

Greyduster Sun 10-Oct-21 08:38:45

DS phones his dad more than he phones me, but it’s usually a football related conversation with sundry family news tacked on. Once they have finished talking about football, he will often put speakerphone on if I am around, but we do exchange WhatsApp messages and he sends jokes and photos of his latest carving projects. DD does phone occasionally, and it is me, and not her dad, but is more likely to message. Even though she is tethered to iPhone and watch, she’s not brilliant at picking up messages so I use a family WhatsApp group because I know if she doesn’t pick up a message, SiL will.

sodapop Sun 10-Oct-21 09:10:26

We have separate families, mine are in touch daily via WhatsApp but my husband's family only get in touch for something specific. He is hopeless at keeping regular contact. His family do WhatsApp me for a chat or a catch up as we live in different countries.

glammanana Sun 10-Oct-21 09:34:46

My ACs have always spoken to both of us, when my darling man was alive he and the boys would chat about their work & football and discuss anything that was bothering them where as my DD would keep any problems from her dad and discuss with me.
We keep in tough every day through messenger DD visits 4 times a week and boys call in on their way home from work twice a week to check if I need any jobs doing they keep in touch with each other via WhatsAp on a daily basis.