Mom Posts Funny Video Reminding College-Aged Son to Call Her

Ann Pinto McCarney's plea for a phone call has been viewed thousands of times.

ByABC News
September 18, 2015, 1:51 PM

— -- A Philadelphia-area mom wants to get the hashtag #CallYourMom trending, and her viral Facebook post asking her college-aged son to do just that -- to call her! -- might just accomplish it.

Ann Pinto McCarney, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, posted a nearly five-minute video to Facebook Wednesday directed squarely at her son, 18-year-old Liam McCarney, a college freshman at an East coast four-year college.

In the video, which has now been viewed thousands of times, McCarney, a mother-of-four, reminds her son that she birthed him, carried him on her hip, sat through his karate classes and, most importantly, pays both his college tuition and cell phone bills, which also allows her to see, she says, that he has no problem remembering to text or call his girlfriend.

McCarney, who describes herself as an actress, singer and “I guess a comedian at this point,” told ABC News she and her husband, Dean, dropped Liam off at college in August and, prior to the video, had only heard from him once since.

“There’s no communication, let’s be clear,” McCarney said. “The only time he called us was to ask my husband to send video game cartridges, the priorities.”

McCarney says she is known for posting funny videos making fun of herself as a housewife and of life with four teenagers, and knew this particular video would strike a chord with her fellow parents on Facebook.

“I kind of feel like this took off because it tapped into the heart of people across the country,” she said. “Parents have been saying ‘call home’ for decades.”

McCarney texted Liam the day before she posted the video to give him a heads up, although she says humor runs in their family so he was not surprised and not fazed by it at all.

“Then I texted him the day that it went out and said, ‘The pressure is on,’ and he said, ‘Mom, I’m going to see you in a few weeks,’” McCarney said, still laughing. “I texted him the next day and said,’ Now you really need to call I think,’ and he said, ‘Okay, I’ll call you at 11:30.’”

“So I was penciled in,” she said.

Liam is McCarney’s second oldest child, and her only son. She sent her oldest daughter to college last year and when asked if she ever had to make a video like this for her daughter, McCarney was quick with a three-word answer.

“Not at all,” she said.