RLIC – short for “Real Life Interrupted Chat.” I’ve used this term for a couple years with the friends I chat with (usually about three a month). When you are a parent of small children, it can often be tricky carry on extended conversations with someone via any kind of chat program . Instant Messenger, Facebook, texting, it doesn’t matter.

You can be mid-conversation and then you hear yelling and find out the cat has banana smashed into his tail and the kids are both fighting over the same My Little Pony toy even though they have at least ten of them.

This has been the story of my life lately if I try to chat with someone while I’m at home. I feel a bit like if I was in the room talking with someone and then mid-sentence just sort of disappear.