iMessage vs SMS on command I've got a really dumb question. I just got my new (to me) iPhone 4 on a plan and activated through a service provider. Yay! My iPhone was restored to a backup of my iPod so all the data and stuff transferred, and in trying to text my mom (who is on an iPhone 5), all my texts come through iMessage unless I explicitly turn it off.

However my mom appears to be able to change messaging me between the two services on command. They all appear in the same conversation for me, but since all my messages are sent as iMessage, she has to switch to a different conversation (the iMessage one) to see my replies to an SMS.

Any idea why or how I might be able to prevent that?
I would check your address book entry on your mothers iPhone. iMessages can be registered to phone numbers, or email addresses. My guess is that because you're sending iMessages they are arriving under your email address on your mothers iPhone. Then, when she sends SMSs to you they go out under your phone number. So, check her iPhone's address book. Ensure that your entry has both your email address and phone number under the same entry.