With much fascination, I watched a mother pacify her tired cranky toddler with her iPhone. The moment mamma whips out the phone, the babe goes silent. Every single time. Amazing.

No wonder younger and younger children are getting cell phones. And no wonder children get addicted to game consoles.

It is a great way to distract a child though. And evidently a very helpful gadget when you don’t have toys at your disposal.

It also reminds me of a conversation I had with my brother just last month. We were talking about the importance of having a driver’s license, and how I should convert mine.

For me, it is important to have a valid driver’s license because when my husband is at work, who is going to ferry the babies? How inconvenient it would be to raise a family without a car! We’ve always had a car in the family and I grew up never understanding how families go about without a car. This consumes my mind especially on Chinese New Year, when we visit relatives all over the place within a span 12 hours. How do you bring all your children around the island solely on public transit?

I told my brother, “I’m NOT going to take public transport with the kids… Very annoying to other passengers one leh.”

“Who cares right?” he replies. “It’s experience for the kids.”

“Hahaha! Cause they annoy us today, so next time we (take) revenge is it?”

“Yep, carry on the tradition. Gives others incentive to have kids too so that they can annoy others.”

I like knowing that I have the license to drive if I have to.