You know the calls, the ones where you just want to confirm your plans for next Monday and you picked the best time you could think of to call, but she's still a mom. A busy mom too. So, here's what you hear: I want a snack! Where is my teddy? The cat dumped the garbage can! All of course punctuated by your friend saying "yes, of course I can talk, I'm just packing lunches/doing dishes/cleaning up the garbage" This is just how it is sometimes. Add to that a work from home job or a home business, and it's even harder. This doesn't mean she doens't care about what you are saying, it just means that you have to accept her ability to do 3 things at once, respect her needs, and understand that if she says it very loudly, she's probably not talking to you right then. Here are my tips for talking to a busy mom: 1. Call at her downtime, or when she will need the pick me up.
2. Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, start the conversation with "what are you doing?" seriously. She's answering the damn phone and talking to you, if you can't figure that out then I thank you for never calling me. If she's not had a coffee yet or hasn't finished cleaning the dog poo of the floor, she will get annoyed you asked and you won't want to hear the answer.
-acceptable ways to start a conversation are "wow, sounds like you're busy, I'll be breif", "I'm so glad I caught you, do you have a minute to talk", or "I'll be there in 15 minutes with coffee and plane tickets"
3. Don't act all insulted and hurt if she needs to pause your chat for a minute to deal with an issue. You knew she was busy when you called and it's actually a compliment that she didn't just hang up to solve whatever the problem of the minute is.
4. If she asks a question that is clearly a cry for support and confirmation she's doing a good job, just do it. Tell her she's doing such a great job and you appreciate how she still makes time for you. This will make her want to make even more time for you because you "get it"
5. Don't call late at night. She will automatically think someone got hurt, or it will wake up the baby and she needs that quiet time if you ever want to see her outside the house again. You can text after bedtime, and arrange a phone call that way if you like, it gives time to get the phone away from the kids...
Feel free to pass this on. It may be great information for someone dating a single mom, or som