Kids as Brain Back-Up

 “I lost my phone.”

Pandemonium. The world comes to a standstill. We literally cannot move because the phone, our steering wheel is immobilized. It’s not the hardware as such, but phone numbers inside: schools, the child minder, the boss, sisters and all human beings we lean on, to live.

We need back-up. We go crazy because we don’t know the numbers by heart. We are brain dead. We use the speed dial feature on the phone for people we call often, but we don’t know those numbers by heart.

I once froze for a minute when a service provider asked for my number. She noticed the hesitation. I made a joke, while trying to remember the new number that came with the new phone. ‘I don’t call myself.’  The joke fell flat.

Phones have replaced the brain, so we need back-up and kids can provide that. Let me qualify that, kids who don’t have a phone, yet. Their brain is still fresh as spring, and the most important thing is, they are at that stage where they find people fascinating. That is why we should use them as back-up. The following game can be played as much as possible.

‘What’s daddy’s phone number?’

‘What’s grandma’s phone number?’

‘What’s auntie neighbor’s phone number?’

One of the things that melt your heart, is when kids approach your visiting sister with a sense of accomplishment.

‘Auntie, I know your number.’

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.