Did you know that I’m the coolest Mom EVER?? I AM!!
I’m also one of the strictest … but that’s besides the point really. When Zac got his phone upgraded he asked for one with a keyboard. I agreed with one condition - no bad grammar texting to me. OK Mom - no more “I ON BUS” I promise.
Now I get full sentences from my 13 yr old son and live in peaceful cell phone grammar harmony. I forget that there is a whole generation out there who don’t use actual sentences to convey their thoughts anymore.
UNTIL … Zac is sitting in the passenger seat next to me reading his text messages and gets a quizzical look on his face and says, “she makes no sense”. I ask him what on Earth he could mean and he says that this girl that he’s texting doesn’t make sense. I say, “what’s she saying?” Zac says, “TTYL Lv tom”. I say, “oh .. that’s easy … talk to you later I leave tomorrow”. Zac says, “How’d you KNOW that Mom?” hahahah
This spawned a whole conversation about acronyms and me explaining that some acronyms have been around since before he and his friends where even born … :: eye roll :: as if anything existed before THAT right?
So … have I done him a dis-service in denying him the ease of acronyms?
Maybe I should create an acronym day where that’s all we talk in around the house to help him get up to speed. You know he’s just looking at his cell phone half the time not having a clue what his friends are talking about but doesn’t want them to know he’s acronym deficient. In the meantime … “I” am the key to this unknown language for him and I am cool because I speak another language.
I found this funny video filled with acronyms … thought I’d share the laughs:
Alva Hyatt on 
Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer on 
Eve on 
7 Comments
You are totally the coolest mom for making him not use “text speak.” Acronyms are one thing, a useful thing, but text speak is an abomination. Good for you!
That is so awsome that you are doing that with him. The youth of America needs to learn to speak in full sentences and not acronyms
You are only doing him a service when it comes time to find a job! I hate that some people don’t know the difference between formal and informal writing. At the law firm where I’ve worked for many years, I’ve seen younger people write business emails with these abbreviations and I cringe. Hope 2 C U L8r! ARGH! That’s scary!
I’m with you… I would make my son write in complete, grammatically correct sentences!
The utube video is a crack up…
Thanks for the support ladies … so I’m not causing him future harm - AWESOME!! Rock on … now what else can I fix for him in the future
kristy,
i feel the boy has a firm grasp on the english language, as demonstrated when i asked him to come up with another word for KILL in front of three year old monkey.
the boy promptly replied ‘ok, so we TERMINATED these bad guys . . . ‘
never missed a beat.
that is awesome.
you are awesome.
hahaha … ok THAT sounds just like the boy I raised. Even when he was little, people used to comment on the vocabulary. If he doesn’t know the definition of a word, Ron and I say, “I guess you’ve got a trip scheduled to the dictionary then huh?”