PHP - extended __construct

I was wondering if you could help me out..

I have two classes, one extends the other.. Class B will be extended by various different objects and used for common database interactions.. Now I would like class B to handle its connect and disconnects without direction from class A or any external input..

The problem from what I understand is that an extended class won't automatically run its __construct function.. Is there a way around this?

Thanks in advance..

class a extends b
{
   public function __construct()
   {
   }   

   public function validateStuff()
   {
      $this->insert_record();
   }
}

class b
{
   public function __construct()
   {
      $this->connect();
   }

   protected function connect()
   {
      return true;
   }

   public function insert_record()
   {
      return true;
   }
}