I personally don't like to talk to family members "once a month", because there's nothing of substance to talk about and I don't want to spend 30 min on the phone talking about weather and listen to their complaints about whatever. So I also say I communicate by text, it's quick and efficient. I hate "chatting". If there's something important, I can call. Otherwise, no. There's a reason they don't want a phone call from you. They don't want to waste their time by "chatting".