A hypermom’s mobile adventures

I was probably the lst person in the city to get a mobile phone. At the time, I had my beeper and a couple of landlines and a phone just seemed like another fancy gadget that would put a leak on my pocket. When I finally did get a cell, it was out of humiliation more than anything else. All my friends and colleagues already had one, you see, and every time they found out about my mobile-deprived life, they’d subject me to endless ribbing. Besides, I was missing out on all the gimmicks. It wasn’t long before I gave in to the call of the wired world.Today, my Globe Handyphone allows me to be everywhere all at once, which is exactly the kind of power that a mother-of-four like me needs. Yep, you read that right. I have four growing kids ages 12, 10, eight and six. So you could just imagine the kind of delicate coordination I must muster to orchestrate their increasingly busy lives – Erika’s mall expeditions, Felix’s birthday party, Sam’s camping trip and Kyle’s request for cookies and ice cream. At the same time, I’m managing editor for a parenting magazine.

So you could just imagine the amount of calls I make to assign articles to writers, book photographers, stylists and makeup artists for pictorials, and plead with mommies to let their cute little children participate in my birthday party shoot. My eldest Erika, whom we had grudgingly given a mobile of her own, is in love with the concept of communication. It’s not enough that she already hogs the landline at home, she has to have her mobile by her side texting away while she talks about Avril Lavigne with her girlfriends. Indeed, one of my sisters said that she wouldn’t be surprised if Erika had learned to text with her toes. She eats prepaid cards like crazy! Nevertheless, I’m not complaining. Our phones allow us to communicate intimately. I know that sounds kind of trite, but it’s true. Erika would send me a lovely text haiku – and I would smile, even though I’m in the middle of mind-numbing traffic. One time, while she was at a badminton meet, she texted me that she was nervous – and I assured her in so many words hoping my love and positive energy would reach her through the network... Of course, not all her messages are of the mushy kind. Oftentimes, I would get a quick "pls buy bond pper" and that’s it.

While Erika is the ultimate texter, my mother Cilla cannot, for the life her, send even the simplest of messages. For her, a phone is a phone. Besides, she couldn’t get the hang of pushing all those little buttons. It’s too much of a bother for her. Still, my mom uses her mobile often enough to let her daughters know that she’s there. On Valentine’s Day, for instance, she called my mobile and told me she loved me. I felt guilty for not having had the foresight to call her first.

I get all kinds of vibe from my mobile. My girlfriends send me man-hater jokes that we’d laugh about over dinner and wine. My sister Bel would ask if we would go to Mom’s house over the weekend. Dad would ask what time we want to be picked up. Another sister, Apol, would talk about her escapades in Boracay. Meg, a college roommate, sends me quotations from the Bible exhorting me to be a good mother. A writer would plead for a deadline extension. My boys’ taekwondo instructor would send the week’s schedule. Arlene, a dear friend from way back in high school, would schedule a session at the spa. Annalou, a mommy-friend who now lives in Canada told me that she was doing all right. Jojo, my kids’ dad who was in Barcelona, raved at how great that Spanish city is and wished that Manila could be more like it.

Now, three years and a couple of phones later, I cannot quite imagine life without my Globe Handyphone. I work with it, play with it, joke with it, run with it, and keep up with my kids with it. Like most hypermoms trying to balance everything, I’ve shouted at it in wild frustration – and cried on it in utter joy. Me and my Globe Handyphone, we are one.