Conversations With 10 Year Old Boys

That sounds like the title of a depressing movie, but it is actually the state of my life right now. When your child becomes 10, you have them start really working on their phone skills. Carver is constantly calling friends to see if they can play, and they, in turn, are constantly calling him for the same reason. While we have attempted to teach the best phone manners possible, not all his friends have had the same tutorial. So when our phone rings and I answer, I am dealing with a lot of this:
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"Hello?"

silence..... "Um, Carver?"

"No, this is his mom. Would you like to speak to Carver?"

silence..... "Uh, yeah...."
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And so on. I also get this:
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"Can Carver come play?"

"Who is calling, please?"

silence.... "It's Nathan."

"Why hello, Nathan. I think Carver can come play. Is it all right with you mom?"

silence.... "Uh... um, yeah, I think.... Let me ask her."
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Whatever. This is bringing back the dark days when Zinabu first arrived and he spoke only Amharic. I was home alone with him all day having meaningless and confusing conversations. My summer reading list needs to be more inspiring because I won't be having intelligent phone chats anytime soon.