A phone call feels impossible amid the busyness of motherhood, but a quick voice note? That I can manage

Sharing the Load is a column about parenting children of all ages

M

y friend Sevil and I met up recently, where we sat and talked for three hours. Neither of us are strangers to hanging out in bars, but this time the meeting felt luxurious; it was face-to-face social interaction! On my walk home, I sent her a voice note, she sent me one back, and we continued to do so the next day.

I remember when my mum would ask teenage me, “what do you still have to talk about?” after I’d return from school and make a beeline for the phone to call my bestie who I’d seen 20 minutes prior. Laying on my parents’ bed next to our landline, I’d twirl the cord as my friend and I would chat, before my brothers barged in and told me to get off so they could use the internet.