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Dear every mum with a smart phone. We are about to change the way you text.

Forget the acorn, ninja and smiling sun. These are the little graphics parents need on their phone.

Recently, a massive new batch of emojis was released on the social media world, but I can’t really find much emotive use for an acorn, eggplant, or cat face with hearts over its eyes. I pretty much never use anything more than a wink or the steaming pile of poop in daily correspondence.

I’m guessing these emojis were meant to save people time when communicating, explain with a picture – instead of a sentence – what’s going on, but as a parent I just can’t find much use in the ones available.

This is when I realised I needed to make my own emoji. You know, create a cartoony photo shortcut to use while texting with my friends so they know how I’m feeling or what I’m up to. A shorthand for busy mums and dads.

Instead of a boring old yellow smiley face or unusable tree sapling, here is a list of emojis displaying typical parenting scenarios -starring me, a typical parent.

Emojis for Parents by Kim Bongiorno @letmestart 2014

And this is what they'd look like in action:

Using Parent Emojis by Kim Bongiorno

Makes SO MUCH SENSE now, doesn't it?

I hope you find this list useful the next time you're answering a text or trying to articulate why you don't have the time to reply in depth to a particular Facebook post. I know I sure am!

This was originally published here and is republished with full permission. If you want more from Kim you can subscribe to her blog or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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