This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Mother’s Day the movie.
There is no doubt that today’s landscape of technology has changed parenting and the relationships with those we love, especially our moms. The days of “call your mother” have been replaced by the ability to text, Facetime, Skype, Facebook Message, or even 10 second Snapchat greetings from anywhere at any time. The days of email have been replaced by instantaneous communication via apps, connectivity through social media networks, and video conferencing tools that give us the ability to let our moms know that we’re thinking of them regardless of how close or far away we may be in real time.
When I was little, I used to call my grandmother from a landline whose handset was attached to the wall in our kitchen. Once I was old enough to dial her number myself, my parents had upgraded from a rotary phone to a handset with push buttons. I could quickly press the seven digits of her phone number (no area codes were required back then!) to hear her voice. Regardless of the length of call, I’d find myself twirling the curly cord, sometimes sitting at our kitchen table for long conversations or standing for shorter ones that usually prefaced a visit. Since she only lived about a mile away from us, I probably saw her more in person than we talked on the phone but more often than not, she was there to answer my call. When she didn’t pick up at a time when she normally was home, it was always a cause for concern!
While the technology may have been simpler when I as a kid, technological advances have allowed me and my mom to stay close despite our cross country relationship. For years I’ve lived on the opposite coast from The Golden State where I grew up but despite the distance, my mom has watched my kids grow up. From 3000+ miles away she’s seen Thomas and Emily transform from infants to tweens through video chats via Skype, photos via email, and images shared through the cloud or sent directly to digital photo frames in her living room.
Despite the tech savvy, I find that old habits die hard. Even though I can iMessage, Skype, or email my mom, I’ll still call my mother to hear her voice. It’s like a throwback to my childhood when I pick up our phone to call her while I’m making dinner, knowing she’s picking up the line from her kitchen phone whose curly corded version from my childhood was replaced long ago with a cordless one.
But the days of phone calls as a main mode of communicating between generations is ending with my daughter. My 12 year old daughter, Emily, prefers texting over phone calls. She knows that I can always see where she is thanks to geofencing parameters we’ve set up through the Life 360 app that keeps me up to date about her whereabouts, an app that would have helped me and my mom keep track of my grandmother! Instead of calling me while I’m on work trips, Emily can peek in to see what I’m up to by liking my Instagram photos or watching my Snaps. Every once and awhile Emily will call but a call is a rare unicorn in communication among today’s generation.
Regardless of how technology allows me and Emily to communicate compared to the way I do with my own mother or did with my grandmother, there will always be a special bond between mother and daughter that transcends the type of tools we use to stay in touch.
This Friday, celebrate the special bond that mothers and daughters have with Mother’s Day, a movie that brings together Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Julia Roberts along with Jason Sudeikis, in a celebration of mothers everywhere. This big-hearted comedy celebrates three women with three stories, forever linked by being mothers and daughters. Mother’s Day invites us all to embrace the ones we love as we enjoy the laughter, tears and love as three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. It’s the latest star-studded ensemble comedy from director Garry Marshall (“Pretty Woman,” “Valentine’s Day”) that might even inspire you to call your mother. Or text, Facetime, iMessage, Snapchat, or Skype her!
For more information about Mother’s Day, visit the website, follow @SeeMothersDay on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or follow the official campaign hashtag, #MothersDayMovie. Mother’s Day is in theaters on Friday, April 29. Tickets are currently available through Fandango.
This post was sponsored by Open Road Films but all opinions are my own.
I agree that technology doesn’t replace the telephone call to mother on Mother’s Day. My elderly mother is in her 80’s and waits for my brother to call her on Mother’s Day every year.
i cant wait to see the movie Mother’s Day. I agree we need to do more of it.