General News
13 October, 2025
A Mum's World: Family communiications
Our baby girl was in the Whitsundays last week and we could watch footage of her time on the yacht as it happened.
Communications within a modern family are unrecognisable to those in place when I was a teen.
When I left the farm near Nhill to live in a university student residence in the city, every update to home was achieved with a handful of the right coins and access to a payphone.
Finding an available public telephone and feeding it coins, after punching in the memorised telephone number, was one thing, but someone in my family had to be nearby mum’s sewing room at home on the farm to pick-up and take my call.
Hearing if I’d made it back to Melbourne alive and survived that dreaded hook turn in the heart of the city, was only possible via a rotary finger dial handset plugged into the wall.
The handset included a very long curly electrical cord, which allowed the receiver to take a step away from the connection point while chatting, or use our telephone stool – if I had enough coins for more than a couple of minutes of long-distance conversation.
Achieving a meaningful contact with home once a week was the accepted norm in my family.
These days, calls can be made from anywhere to anyone at any time, and when not speaking, photos and footage can paint the picture of how family members are travelling.
With all three of our daughters based in different suburbs of Melbourne now, Kym and I stay in touch with the girls through texts and calls, but the most fun is the family group chat on Messenger.
That means that this weekend we watched footage from the Whitsundays, a piece to camera by our 21-year-old in Bourke Street before a birthday party and a snap of our eldest with all the snacks she was buying at the supermarket after rehearsals.
I do find it a bit addictive though. It’s not uncommon for me to tap out a request for photos of the theatre, the dress, the injury, the finished product or the damage.
It’s also a bit too easy for my budget challenged daughter to share a shot of something she’s just got at the shops, or for one of the girls to share a sad face, which worries me.
I never took the time to let my family know when I was down, because they were all busy and so very far away.
I have become quite good at the telephone pep talk though, and it is wonderful to hear the change in a loved one’s tone after a good catch-up.
I can be pulling out weeds in the front yard while persuading a young woman that tomorrow is a new day.
Plus, I assure you, mothers like me all over the world are dishing out fashion and suitability advice based on some pretty atrocious fitting room photos.
Immediate feedback has saved fashion faux pas by offspring almost everywhere.