Kaelin, Lauren; Friaioli, Sophia: When Parents Text

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When Parents Text, by twenty-somethings Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Friaioli, is a collection of text messages culled from their site whenparentstext.com. As the title suggests, the texts included are communications between parents and children, and they tend to highlight the divide between the texting generation and their less with-it parents. Reading the texts I was initially disappointed because they're not laugh-out-loud funny in the way that the texts featured on damnyouautocorrect.com are. I didn't laugh out loud once reading When Parents Text, but I did smile: reading more I realized that if these aren't drop dead funny they are awfully sweet. The picture they paint of contemporary familial relations is a very heartening one. So I've come away from the book happy about that and also amused that I'm not the only dorky parent out there embarrassing my kids (often on purpose). Here are a few choice examples from the book:

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Dad: Lake Whitney is covered with pelicans.
Me: That's great, but you do know that now 50% of your all-time texts to me are about pelicans.
Dad: And? I like pelicans. 66%

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Mom: Hey! Check out the birthday greeting I put up on your brother's FB!
Me: Okay.
Me: It just says, "Happy birthday!"
Mom: Yeah. I thought it would be nice.

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Dad: How are you feeling?
Me: Not great. Throat hurts.
Dad: Sorry. Drink more emergency
Me: I'm doing everything I can. Nasal spray, cough drops, oral decongestant, vitamin c...
Dad: That a girl. I am very proud of you
Me: For using nasal spray?
Dad: Everything