I have often wondered why I see younger and younger folks with cell phones. Is this just parental doting? Or is there a real need?

I'm a parent of two young children (age 5 and 2). My recent experieces have led me to doubt if I ever will dote on my children in such a fashion. I have come to the conclusion that cell phones should NOT be in the hands of children (younger than 21 who do NOT pay for the service).

Why? I have recently taken over many mondane tasks for my sister -- who suffered a stroke a few months back. Including her cellphones/bills. Her two children (16 y/o girl, 14 y/o boy) each have a cell on the plan.

Their usage has been unbelievable. Some 800+ text messages each (at $0.05 each), 100+ hours each on the phone. Staying on the phone until 2am, 3am or even 6am on school nights. It has taken some serious effort to cut them down to what I consider to be 'reasonable'.

The 14 y/o has lost his cell phone all together. Consistent lying and late-night usage on school nights we well as stealing a cell phone out of his grandmothers purse, left me what I consider no alternative. He is unable to use the phone responsibly.

The 16 y/o lost her cell usage for about 2 weeks (I shut it off). She's allowed 1000 minutes per month TOTAL. 300 text messages per month TOTAL. As much as I would like to remove her cell phone completely, she has shown enough self-control -- particularly when I check the usage every day and see how long and how often she has used the phone.

Between these two kids, they have cost me close to $400 on cell phone abuse. The 16 y/o is paying me back her share and I've enslaved my nephew on all saturdays and some sundays to work it off at $5/hour.

Post Script: My niece almost lost her cell phone usage for the remainder of the month. She went over her 1000 minutes by a half-hour. I told her as long as I see NO usage (other than checking voice mail), it'll stay on.

Two weeks ago, my sister had a stroke.

She's 49, mother of 2 children (16 y/o girl, 14 y/o boy), very active and independent.

I was the first to arrive at the hospital -- about 10 minutes after she arrived. This was about 30 minutes after the stroke. She was lucky that it happened in public and it was recognized quickly.

I can never adequately express the fear and anxiety I felt as I received the phone call from my neice. She said that she just got a call that her mother was taken to the hospital and she wasn't talking. I don't know why, but I immediately thought STROKE. When I arrived at the hospital, they were asking me questions about my sister that I knew she could answer. This increased my fears. They told me she was receiving an MRI and an asprin enema. That essentially confirmed it, for me.

Before my sister returned from her MRI, her Dr. approached me and told me that he suspected a stroke, and "a massive one, at that", he said.

They wheeled my sister back in. She looked asleep. I took her hand and spoke to her. She squeezed my hand.

Over the next 30 minutes, my sister regained consciousness. She couldn't talk, she was paralized on her right side and it wasn't clear if she was understanding anything that was said to her. I kept reassuring her that I'll make sure the kids would be fine, the bills would be paid, the pets would be fed, etc -- until she was better.

After the first hour, she was actually lifting her head and looking around. She was able to nod and shake her head in responses to questions -- but not always consistant in her answers.

I'll fast-forward a bit and skip where I passed the news to my mom and my sister's kids...

The first day saw the most dramatic improvement. She was moving her right side (albeit barely) and she was more consistantly nodding and shaking her head. From then on, she has make significant improvement every day.

As of yesterday, she can speak -- but her words are haulting. She's stuck on about 10 phrases. "Yes", "No", "I don't know", "I know", "Maybe", and a few others. She can fully understand everything spoken to her. She can't find the words yet, and she has trouble reading. She KNOWS the words, and can clearly identify their meanings when shown pictures of things and actions -- but when the words are put in sentences, she can't make out the meaning.

Also, she is nearly paralysis free. You can see a SLIGHT droop in her lip when she smiles and she's just a little weak on her right side. That's it. She's able to do EVERYTHING should could before (except drive -- but that's by Dr's order -- she'll need to be evaluated for that in the future).

I've taken care of all her bills and will continue to do so until her disability kicks in. Money will be a little tight for her, but I can supplement it as needed.

She's home now. Last week, she was released as an in-patient at a local rehab clinic and then released for home just yesterday. Her insurance will pay for at-home speech therapy and I'll be working with her on that, too. She's going to get annoyed with me pushing her to read/talk -- but hey. I have a thick skin. I post on slashdot!