"Sorry I missed your call - I was helping my child _____ (learn to read, wash their hair, or ???)"
Please don't apologize to me! You have called me back. You have voice mail. I am not more important that the job you are doing, the walk you are taking, the child you are parenting... And I wouldn't want to be. Instead, tell me how your day has been and what you have been up to. If I called you and you are my friend, I love you and your life and want to hear about how when I called you had just managed to sit down for the first time all day, with a good book, and nothing was getting you up... and I want to know how the book is. Or that your child was trying to swallow your house key. Or other details of your day and life...
But don't apologize for having a full, rich life that doesn't always get to the phone.
Do you apologize? Am I way off base here?
