SMS - The Communication Channel of Choice

When I was in junior high I would (try to) spend hours on the phone talking to my friends. It was really the only way to communicate. When I got to college, I used email to keep in touch. A few years later, instant messaging (ICQ, AIM, Microsoft Messenger, etc.) was the new method to communicate with people on a real-time basis. The problem was very few people had an instant messaging client and very few of the instant messaging clients were compatible with each other. Therefore, not only was it necessary for you to be computer savvy enough to install an IM client, you also had to have the same IM client as the person you wanted to communicate with. Instant messaging was also only available if you were sitting in front of a computer.

Fast forward to 2009. For those of you around kids and young adults age 10 to 25 you already know that the new preferred method of communication is SMS text messaging. SMS, an abbreviation for short message service. This is a service that allows short text messages to be sent and received between just about any mobile telephone or PDA in the world. It is a universal channel that is now the preferred method of communication between teenagers and young adults. I did not realize this until recently when Brittany got her own mobile phone. Part of the deal when she got her phone was that we would get unlimited text messaging for the family. Little did I realize that she would test the bounds of the word “unlimited.”

I just got in my mobile phone bill for AT&T. I have detailed billing meaning that each call and text messaging is recorded as a line item on the bill. My bill is normally 10 to 15 pages long. For the month of January it was 362 pages. Seriously – 362 pages! For the sake of the rain forest, I am glad I have electronic billing.

We have had several discussions about texting etiquette. When, where, and who it is appropriate to text. I am amazed that nearly all of her friends text each other – all the time.

Before Brittany got her phone, we had one phone for all the kids. They would take this phone when they were away from us. When we got a mobile phone for Brittany, we transferred that number to her phone. Therefore, the other kids were without a phone. Shawn Jr. decided that he was going to spend a portion of his Christmas money on a phone that he could use to text his friends. (By the way, he never actually talks on the phone, he just uses it as a texting device). When we picked up Shawn Jr.’s phone I also activated our old kids phone. That way Noelle could take it with her when she went places. Because we have unlimited text messaging, I activated SMS on that phone as well. The result – we now have 5 phones that use text messaging – mine, Misty’s, Brittany’s, Shawn Jr’s and Noelle’s.


I can only image what my AT&T bill is going to look like next month.

Christmas 2008

It was another good Christmas for the Helms Family. We had our family Christmas at home on December 21st. The kids opened up gifts and we had a nice night.













As is our tradition, we spent Christmas day in Windsor, Missouri. Windsor is a town of 3000 people that is about 100 miles southeast of Kansas City. Misty and I grew up in Windsor and both of our families are still there.


Given the size of our family, the car trips are becoming more and more difficult. Despite packing very light, packing the car and finding room for 8 people is a challenge.





We headed out to Windsor from Texas at about 4:00 pm on December 22nd. On the way, at about 8:30 pm, one of our tires blew out near a small town somewhere in the middle of Oklahoma. We pulled off the side of the road, called On Star and were back on the road about 1 hour later. We ended up staying the night at a hotel in Muskogee, Oklahoma. We headed into Windsor the next day.




Christmas day was nice. We spent the first part of the day at my Uncle Steve and Aunt Pat’s house in Lone Jack, Missouri.








One of the odd traditions that has developed on my side of the family is the gifting of a group of condiments . Seriously. It is the craziest thing. One year my cousin's husband got some mustard for Christmas. He thought it would be funny to regift the mustard with some ketchup the next year. The year after that, the person that got the mustard and ketchup added something else and gave it to another member of the family. It has gone on like this for 6 years! That means the bottle of mustard is 6 years old at this point. Nobody wants to get stuck with the condiments but every year someone goes home with this group of food accessories.

We spent the second half of Christmas day in Windsor at Misty’s Mom’s house. Misty’s Mom lives in the small house (maybe 1500 square feet downstairs) that every year hosts about 55 people. Misty is the youngest of 9 kids. Misty was an aunt when she was 2 years old. All the kids and their families come back to Windsor for Christmas. It is a great chance for everyone to get together at least one time a year. There are gifts, kids, adults and food stuffed into every corner of that house on Christmas day.







We headed home a few days later. Another great Christmas in Missouri.



For a funnier (and more realistic) version of the story, you can watch the video.