As I mentioned in my Quality Time this week, phoning home while on a business trip is not really one of my biggest strengths. It seems like I always pick the wrong time to call (explosions and screams in the background), or that when I finally get the kids on the line all I get is dead air. What are the tricks to having a meaningful conversation with the kids when you call home from the road? Is there a particular time of day that works well? A way to draw kids into the conversation? Technology that actually adds to the conversation instead of detracting from it?

Timely topic. I'm finishing a week long business trip myself, so this is definitely front of mind for me.<br><br>Your point about timing is well taken. I find the best time to reach my family is the cocktail hour you described in your video, that window of time just before dinner. My son is generally responsive then and open to tell me about his day at school. For my son (age 5), if I wait until after dinner that's movie time in our house and my call seems to become a burden to the boy because I'm keeping him from his daily 30 minute tv fix. At that point, he just wants to say, Hi, goodbye. I love you. See you soon. He really just wants to check the block to get the conversation over with.<br><br>As far as technology, for our family, the speaker phone is a great asset. It means that Mama can hear both sides of the conversation and can help massage the conversation along by dropping me hints on questions that I may want to ask to draw him out. Or she can hear the questions I've asked and guide the boy to answers.<br><br>Can't wait to hear what works for other folks too.