There was a time when staying in touch with someone meant making a phone call, sending a letter, or, ideally, seeing them in person.
Now, you can pull out your phone and let your kids say goodnight to Grandma from the back seat of the car.
You can catch up with a friend who moved across the country while folding laundry.
You can join a work meeting without leaving the house, or watch your child proudly show off a school project to relatives who live hours away.
For busy moms, video calls have become much more than a convenient way to communicate.
They’ve made it easier to maintain relationships that might otherwise slowly fade away when life gets busy and distance gets in the way.
Because, between work, school schedules, activities, appointments, meals, and everything else on your plate, getting together in person isn’t always realistic.
Here are just a few of the ways that video calls have revolutionized the way busy moms and their families communicate:
Staying Close to Family Who Lives Far Away
One of the biggest ways video calling has changed family life is by making long-distance relationships feel a little less distant.
Maybe your parents live in another province or country. Maybe your best friend moved away. Maybe your child’s grandparents don’t get to visit as often as everyone would like.
A phone call can help you stay in touch, but there’s something different about actually seeing each other.
Your kids can show Grandma the picture they just drew. Grandpa can watch a birthday candle being blown out. A relative who can’t make it to a school concert can still see photos and talk with your child afterward.
And, while a video call obviously isn’t the same as spending time together in person, it can help kids maintain a relationship with people they might otherwise only see once or twice a year.
For families separated by long distances, that regular face-to-face contact can help people feel closer and more together than they would have otherwise.
Video Calls Make It Easier to Keep Friendships Going
Motherhood can be hard on your social life. You can genuinely care about your friends, and then suddenly realize you haven’t seen them in months.
It’s not necessarily because you stopped wanting to spend time with them. Life just gets busy.
Someone has a sick child. Someone is working late. Someone has hockey practice three nights a week.
By the time everyone’s schedules finally line up, another month has passed.
Video calls can make staying connected a little easier.
Instead of trying to coordinate an entire evening out, you might talk for 20 minutes after the kids are in bed.
You can catch up while you’re both sitting on the couch in your pajamas, instead of waiting for the day when you somehow have enough free time for a proper girls’ night.
It might not replace spending time together in person, but it can help stop a friendship from disappearing completely because life got complicated.
Your Kids Can Stay Connected Too
Kids form relationships outside their immediate household too, and those relationships can be harder to maintain when someone moves away.
A child might have a close friend who changes schools or moves to another city. Cousins who used to see each other every weekend might end up living several hours apart.
Regular video calls can give kids a way to keep those relationships going.
Of course, younger kids may not want to sit and have a long conversation on a screen, and that’s okay.
They might prefer showing each other toys, playing a simple game together, drawing pictures, or simply being silly for 10 minutes.
A video call doesn’t have to be structured or productive where kids are concerned. Just seeing one of their friends or peers can help them feel closer.
Video Calls Can Be a Lifeline During the Busy Years of Motherhood
There are some parts of motherhood that can make getting out of the house feels like a major accomplishment.
Maybe you have a newborn who won’t settle. Maybe you’re home with young children and don’t have much time to yourself. Maybe you’re dealing with a difficult family situation, or simply going through a period where leaving the house requires more energy than you have.
In those moments, connecting to your friends and family can become surprisingly difficult.
A video call makes it possible to see a familiar face without arranging childcare, getting everyone ready, driving somewhere, or worrying about how long you can be away.
Remember, thought, that doesn’t mean you should settle for online relationships instead of real-life support. We all need people in our lives who can show up when it matters.
But, when getting together isn’t possible, being able to see and talk to someone can help you feel less isolated.
Parenting Benefits of Working From Home
For many moms, video calls are also a part of their work life. Parents have embraced the ability to work remotely or at a hybrid job.
Instead of commuting to an office every day, they’re able to attend meetings from home and work with people they may rarely see in person.
That flexibility can make family life easier in some ways.
Not needing to commute to an office may mean more time at home, and working remotely can make it easier to manage school schedules or appointments.
Of course, remote work also comes with its own challenges.
Anyone who’s ever tried to stay focused during a video meeting while a child is yelling in another room knows that working from home isn’t always the peaceful setup people imagine.
Still, video calls have made remote and hybrid work possible for many families, and changed the way parents balance work and home responsibilities.
Benefits of Casual Video Chatting
One of the most important benefits of the increasing popularity of video chatting is that it’s no longer something that’s saved for work meetings, birthdays, or carefully planned family chats.
Sometimes, the best calls are the casual ones.
You call your sister because something funny happened, and you want to tell her about it. You check in with a friend because you know she’s had a rough week. Your kids call their grandparents for a few minutes before bed.
Those everyday conversations can be some of the most meaningful ones because they’re closer to the way people naturally connect in person.
In fact, certain video chat companies like CallMeChat have been designed to encourage those more casual, spontaneous conversations rather than formal meetings.
The rise of popularity in those secure live video conversations shows the growing interest in using video chat as a way to stay connected.
The Downsides of Video Chatting
While there are certainly plenty of benefits to video chat, there are also downsides.
If you’ve spent a day jumping from one online meeting to another, you probably understand why people talk about video-call fatigue.
Staring at a screen for hours can be exhausting. Seeing your own face during every conversation can feel distracting and uncomfortable. Trying to have a conversation while your internet freezes at the wrong moment is frustrating for everyone involved.
For moms, there’s also the pressure of feeling like your home needs to look presentable on camera.
If you start to feel stressed about having to face yet another video call, give yourself permission to take a break from the computer and just enjoy the present.
It’s also good to remind yourself that people aren’t really paying as much attention to you home as they are to you.
After all, the benefit of video calling is the chance to connect with a person, not their home.
Protecting Your Privacy During Video Calls
Video calls can feel more personal than sending a text, because you’re sharing your face, your voice, and sometimes a glimpse into your home.
That makes privacy worth thinking about, especially when you’re using a new app or platform.
Before signing up for any video calling service, take a few minutes to look at its privacy settings and understand who can contact you or access your information.
You should also keep these tips in mind to help protect your family’s privacy during video calls:
- Avoid sharing personal information with people you don’t know
- Be careful about what can be seen in the background of your camera
- Check who is allowed to join calls or contact you through the platform
- Use privacy settings and security features when they’re available
- Talk to older children and teens about the risks of video chatting with strangers
Remember that video calling should be treated the same way as any online activity when it comes to protecting your information and privacy.
As Video Evolves, Connection Will Remain
As technology continues to improve, we’ll likely enjoy better and better opportunities to connect with one another.
That could include better real-time translation, virtual spaces that feel more interactive, or features we haven’t even thought of yet.
But, for most moms, the technology itself isn’t really the important part. What matters is they way it allows you to stay in touch.
Of course, a video call can’t replace sitting beside someone, sharing a meal, or getting a much-needed hug.
But, sometimes, when life is busy and the people you love are far away, seeing their face on a screen can be enough to remind you that they’re still there.