# How often do you talk with/call your parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205 "2005-04-20T09:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/1 "2005-04-20T09:04:45Z")
Assuming you live away from your parents, how often do you give your mom/dad a phone call? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/2 "2005-04-20T09:07:37Z")
My parents are divorced; my mum and I call each other once-twice a month and visit 4-5 times a year. My father lives in the same city, and We call each other about 3 times a week and meet 2 times a week. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/3 "2005-04-20T09:09:41Z")
3-5 times a week on average, I think. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/4 "2005-04-20T09:30:45Z")
I live on the same street as my mom. My grandmother lives on the same street, also…just a bit further down from where mom lives. I talk to them both daily. Usually several times a day, just to make sure things are going ok with them and they’re not having any problems. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/5 "2005-04-20T10:41:09Z")
Once a week, usually on a Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/6 "2005-04-20T10:46:45Z")
I try to make sure I call them every Thursday. However, I will usually end up calling them on the weekend too, and sometimes another time during the week. So it usually end up being 2-3 times a week. I probably see them once a month, mainly because I live two hours away. If I didn’t live so far away I probably would end up seeing them once or twice a week. I used to feel bad about talking to them so much, because supposedly I am an adult now and they have their own lives, etc. But I really enjoy talking to them and they like hearing from me, so I’ve gotten over that. I can really learn a lot from them. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/7 "2005-04-20T13:15:52Z")
Couple times a week usually. My dad lives about 20 miles away. I don’t see him as much as I’d like to, but we do try to stay in contact. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/8 "2005-04-20T13:18:20Z")
once a week usually on a Saturday, unless there’s something out of the ordinary happening. Been that way since I first left home. My sister on the other hand rings my mum daily. Or more. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/9 "2005-04-20T13:20:32Z")
I call 2-3 times a week, and sometimes we e-mail each other from work too. We live about 4 1/2 hours apart, but I only see them a few times a year… we get along better that way! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/10 "2005-04-20T13:48:02Z")
I never call them. They, on the other handm insist on calling me ever Sunday, even though less than half the time there is nothing substaintial to the call. It’s not that I don’t like my parents, it’s jsut that I have no need to tell them every little thing that happened to me this week. And I don’t need to know that that friend of my dad’s who I met once when I was five got divorced, or that there was a sale on ground beef at Shaws. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/11 "2005-04-20T14:09:51Z")
I talk to my mom (she lives in Prescott, AZ and I live outside of Chicago) at least once a week. It’s probably 50/50 who calls who. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/12 "2005-04-20T14:29:20Z")
I talk to my mom on the phone about twice a week, and also exchange emails. The emails are more or less frequent depending what’s going on at the time – like if we are planning a family vaccation, it could be several times a day. My dad lives several times zones away, and that makes it difficult to talk on the phone. Plus, he’s one of those odd people who won’t call for months, and then out of the blue feel the need to chat on the phone several times in one day. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/13 "2005-04-20T14:32:33Z")
Sunday evening, between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. I visit about once every other month. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/14 "2005-04-20T14:36:14Z")
My parents live in Honolulu and I live in Chicago. We talk once a day, with my dad calling about an hour after I get home from work, and my mother a little later or when she gets home. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/15 "2005-04-20T14:39:32Z")
I call my mom (or she calls me) pretty much every day. This is not so much because I want to talk to her as because she is 78 and a bit frail and she lives alone and I am afraid she’s going to fall down one day and hurt herself. So I call almost every day to check that she’s okay. Sometimes it just take a minute; sometimes we have a conversation. My mom is afraid that she will die one day and the cat will starve to death before she is found, so she appreciates my calls for that reason too: if she dies, I’ll find out long before the cat starves. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/16 "2005-04-20T14:49:03Z")
I live about 7 miles from my mom and stepdad; they used to live half a mile from me. I call or talk to my mom whenever one of us needs something. Last time I talked to my mom was a month ago, when I was calling to talk to borrow their truck. I forgot to call her on her birthday last month (even tho it was the same week I borrowed the truck), and I imagine she’ll forget to call on mine this year as well. This is nothing unusual–birthdays are just another day for me and my mom. My dad and stepmom live 200 miles from me. I haven’t talked to my dad for two years. He’s never at his house because he is currently working for FEMA and travels a lot; I don’t know where he is and he apparently never thinks to call me. I’ve talked to his wife several times during those two years; she is the one who calls and lets me know that they have received birthday and holiday cards–woe be unto me if I forget one of their birthdays. I have a much different relationship with this set of parental units. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/17 "2005-04-20T15:04:19Z")
I used to call my parents about once a week, but my mother was dianosed with lung cancer in the fall of 2003. (Currently, she’s cancer-free!) Starting then, I got in the habit of calling nearly every day. Usually I just talk to Mom, but sometimes to Pa as well. They live in RI, and I’m in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/18 "2005-04-20T15:31:37Z")
Either I call or they call every day. It’s only about a five-minute conversation, though. Generally they want to know that I’m studying and I want to know that they’re exercising and/or want a recipe. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/19 "2005-04-20T15:37:06Z")
We live about two miles away from my parents. My mom works at the public library–and so do I, but I only fill in every once in a while. So I probably talk to them and see them a couple times a week each, but that includes taking the kids to the library too. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205/20 "2005-04-20T15:45:08Z")
Gee, now I feel like a bad child. I call my father maybe once a month. I also send an email every few weeks to let him know I’m alive. Oddly enough, when I lived with my father he’d call every night if I didn’t come home. He always _had_ to know where I was. Now that I’m 9000 miles away – up to all sorts of mischief – he doesn’t worry about me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-talk-with-call-your-parents/300205.md?page=2)