I would certainly get irritated if I were being pressured into a telephone 'chat'. I loathe telephone conversations. I tolerate telephone calls to pass on or exchange essential information. I only send text messages to pass on urgent and essential information. With one notable exception, my male acquaintances are much the same.
But we are all Baby Boomers and STEM bods.
But Sulking in his room? That is the odd bit, otherwise, @Thingsdogetbetter and @vdbfamily describe ‘normality’ to me.
I rarely have any interest in the topics my wife chatters about with our sons. She has no interest whatsoever in the inane emails we exchange. Youtube videos of Commer Knockers in Australia and subsequent discussion about fitting tuned pipes of interest to anyone?
She likes to talk to them ‘live’ at least weekly. They have learned to accept this and are remarkably tolerant of it. I’m content with monthly ‘proof of life’ emails. But I do listen politely when she summarises her conversations with them.
She frets if they don’t answer their phone. I don’t even expect a reply to most emails.
We all have the location feature enabled on our telephones so I occasionally check Google Maps to find out where they are. They do travel a bit. She likes to 'check in' all her 'chicks' last thing each night.
To me @bluebell2017 sounds like a teenager - we have texted each other several times a day, and had a couple of phone calls in the first week! Ye Gods that would have irritated to bejasus out of our sons. Our teenage nieces don't do that!
But then I don’t understand my wife having 2 hour conversations with her sister when it seems she relives her day in real-time. Even more bewildering to me is they will have the same 2 hour conversation the day before we are due to visit. What on earth can be left to talk about for the rest of the weekend?
This isn't a new or unusual phenomenon. It's the sulking that is unusual and worrying.
There was an advert back in the previous millennium for BT based on this exact scenario. Female undergraduate phones home from a telephone box in hall. Dad picks up the phone recites telephone number, recognises daughter's voice and immediately says 'I'll fetch Mum'. After several repeats of this daughter eventually persuades Dad to talk to her. Cue very stilted conversation!
'It's Good to Talk' was the strap-line as I recall
It was specifically aiming at men of a certain age to try to get them to 'chat' on the telephone - without conspicuous success apparently.
I don't want to fall into the Mars/Venus or 'wife-work' trap but, à chacun son goût.