Running L8 But CU Soon. Luv, Mom

"Text messaging is perfect for moms because it doesn't require a BlackBerry or high-end data device, but can be used on any phone," said Roger Entner, a senior vice president at IAG Research. He added that working parents also use text messaging while at work as a simple tool to check in with their children.

For families, wireless carriers' flat-rate plans have been a panacea for sky-high texting bills, in some cases incurred after a teen sends hundreds or thousands of text messages a month.

After that happened to Lynda Johnson, she switched her family to Sprint's flat monthly plan. Her 17-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son were sending hundreds of text messages monthly. Now the Silver Spring mother tallies up her own text messages.

Her daughter, Jesse, was given a cellphone at age 14 for emergencies and for coordinating logistics with her parents. More often, however, Jesse would spend hours texting friends from the couch or back seat of the car.

When Johnson called her daughter, she said, "I could tell I was bothering her or interrupting because her voice was cold and hurried."

So one evening, while Jesse was at a sleepover, Johnson sent her first text message: "Sweet dreams. Luv u." It was a way to check in with her 14-year-old without seeming overbearing. "I don't want to interrupt her with her friends but also want her to know that I'm here for her."

Bethesda mother Evon Ruffin had to learn a new language as well as the new technology. Cryptic abbreviations like OMG, for "Oh My God." And L8R for "later."

Carriers have tried to aid parents new to texting. AT&T, for example, offers a four-page guide on lingo. Verizon Wireless's Quick Text feature allows parents to choose from a menu of phrases like "What's up?" and "On my way," so they don't have to type each letter.

Maria de la Vega, the wife of AT&T Mobility's chief executive, regularly texts her two college-age boys. Although she was lured into text messaging to vote for "American Idol" contestant Bo Bice three years ago, she's now also texting her husband, sometimes when they are both at home to let him know dinner is ready.

Parents' best efforts to be cool isn't met with recognition, of course.

"Nothing is more uncool than to be with your buddies at college and then have your phone ring and have to say, 'Hi, mom,' '' Ralph de la Vega said.

Ruffin said she draws her own limits on joining the text-message culture. Not so her husband, whose embrace of the lingo extends not just to their 12-year-old daughter, but also to her. Recently he sent his wife a one-letter text that read "k" for "okay."

"Come on now, 'Ok' is already abbreviated," she protested. "And you're going to try to shorten it even more? Please."