Talk about the weather with someone else

I think I've established on these pages that when I'm really, really busy and really, really tired, I don't want to talk to anyone, so I don't. The lack of communication doesn't go unnoticed by either my mother or my cat. Mom leaves nasty messages on my voice mail and Gracie leaves poop on the carpet. Neither behavior endears me to either party.

Mom: Why didn't you call??
A.: I got home late on Friday and left early on Saturday.
Mom: So?
A.: So I didn't have time.
Mom: I was worried!
A.: Well, your sense of worry, especially within a 24-hour period, is within your control.
Mom: You could have called.
A.: [Sigh]. I got in late on Friday and went straight to bed.
Mom: What about the morning?
A.: My friend picked me up at 7am.
Mom: So? You could have called later.
A.: I didn't get a chance. I mean, I might have been able to in the car, and then I forgot.
Mom: Well, next time don't forget!

I wanted to say, 'next time, use your head.'

I'd called mom as soon as I got home yesterday. As soon as I put down the phone, Mirella called. I didn't bring up the conversation with mom, but it came up anyway.

Mirella: I talked to Alexa. I love it when she calls and tells me about everything she's been doing. She's trained me to not expect regular phone calls, but when she does call, it's very substantive and wonderful.
A.: I wish my mom would get on board with that. She's driving me up the wall.
Mom: Well, it's largely a control thing for your mom.
A.: I know. And it's beyond control in terms of knowing where I am: it feels like she wants to control how I am. She didn't bring this up explicitly this time, but when she used to hound me about not calling more regularly, and I'd respond that I didn't have anything to say but that she was welcome to call me if she had anything to say, she'd say that I could tell her about the simple things, like what flowers I may have seen that day. I'm sorry, but I'm just not a talk-about-the-weather person. I don't want to report on 'the simple things' to anyone. I'd much rather talk when there are things to say and not feel like I have to make small talk with my own parents.
Mirella: You need to train her... [Mirella talks in depth about going through this process with her own daughter and coming to appreciate more rare and more substantive conversations].
A.: I try.

I mean, wouldn't you rather have a natural conversation with someone than try to force a routine or pattern? And why would you want someone to talk about something they don't care to talk about--unless you're RM or another aggressive talker? I always thought RM's asking me what I did that day was a sign of poor conversational skills. Can't you just naturally bring out what people find interesting to talk about?