There are no comments up to now.
I never remember my dentist appointments. Which is why I always appreciate the reminder calls when my six month cleaning comes around. But this month, as my bi-annual check up approached, I didn’t get a courtesy call from my dentist. I got something better...a text message.
I had no idea my dentist had begun texting patients to remind them of upcoming appointments until I received this convenient reminder a few days before I was due in the office. To confirm the appointment, all I had to do was simply reply to the text message. Simple, convenient and I did is as I sat in my car waiting for my kids to get out of school. Before I’d even gotten my teeth cleaned, my dentist had put a smile on my face.
And hopefully I returned the favor. As I left the office after my appointment a few days later, he began lamenting about his daughter’s desires for a cell phone. It reminded me that even parents who embrace the benefits of technology in their job on the home front, tend to act much more cautiously when it comes to their kids. Ironically, the topic of cell phones and kids happens to be the topic of next month’s Plugged In Parent column. And as I rattled on about how beneficial a cell phone can be for teaching good mobile habits early on, hopefully relieving some of the parental angst of his decision, I could see a grin begin to appear on his face too.
Sharon Miller Cindrich is an author, columnist and mother of two tech-savvy kids. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers across the country including The Chicago Tribune, Parents Magazine and FamilyFun Magazine, where she is a contributing editor. Her self-syndicated column Plugged In Parent is published in parenting magazines around the country, and her book E-parenting: Keeping Up With Your Tech-Savvy Kids (Random House 2007) is available on Amazon.com.