After 32 flights the toddler certainly should know better than to kick seats.
If the airline upgraded the guy it must have been bad. Did he get applause?
All kids no matter the gender are “sweetheart”.
And talking to mom rather than the kid was probably pointless–she obviously didn’t get the first 20 clues to make him stop. Maybe the kid was smarter (they may be little but they ain’t dumb!)
So entitled how she goes on about how difficult the whole thing is, what with having to carry stuff and all. Maybe the guy was having his own difficulties, about which she obviously didn’t care.
Have we forgot how to parent? No excuse for this behavior.
She should alert us when she’s traveling or taking her son out to dinner!
It’s possible the child is on the Autism spectrum and may be very hard to manage. But still, if he is, maybe he needs to stay at home. You can’t inflict your child’s issues onto unsuspecting passengers.
Oh @preppedparent I’m going to disagree with you on this one. Parents of special needs kids have to have a life too. On the extreme example, what if the mom is flying across country to attend her mom’s funeral? Is she supposed to leave her child at home? I think you didn’t really mean what you just said.
it seems to me that if the child was a special needs one, she would have mentioned that. She seemed to try to garner sympathy (which backfired)
I think it’s one snowflake complaining that no one catered to her special snowflake
Are you not allowed to stare at the parent till they get the hint?
Obviously this woman wouldn’t have gotten it but sometimes it works.
I always carry stuff to read out aloud and games to play if there’s a possibility of children being around and waiting in place.
Dear Mom of Cherubic Child…
I understand that parenting in often trying/difficult/exhausting. I have children/grandchildren of my own. I assumed that you would have noticed that your child was kicking my seat excessively and taken the necessary measure to end the behavior, but alas after a respectable amount of time I turned around and asked “your sweetheart” (who by now actually seemed like the spawn of Satan to me) to stop kicking my seat. Apparently your parenting style in such that it is ok for children to disrespect their elders and despite the admonishment your charming son felt it would be more fun to see just how far he could carry it before a serious repercussion. (Good luck with managing that behavior during his teen years.)
You see while it was a tiring holiday for you, I was actually in the city of our departure (A) undergoing medical treatment for a debilitating disease/illness and each kick from your darling Angel was like a knife to my already exhausted body and emotions; or (B) attending the funeral of my sister/brother/mother/father and each kick was another stone on my already heavy heart (or any number of other reasons). I am not a curmudgeon, just an exhausted human attempting to navigate a difficult holiday the same as you. You see compassion works both ways darling.
The letter seemed over-the-top to me, and I wondered if it was for real, so I looked at her blog. She describes herself as stay at home mom during the week and rock star on the weekends. She travels with a band. The publicity probably won’t hurt her. She seems clueless to me, but suffered a terrible tragedy and maybe, as a result, is still a little less than rational all the time.
I traveled a lot with on my own, with my own kids, when they were very young (in bulk head seats!!) and am sympathetic to children kicking on planes, but it hurts! I don’t want them kicking me. This is something parents can control. As she wrote, she usually holds his feet. I get that is an ordeal for her and am sympathetic, but not sympathetic enough to be kicked for hours. When I’m on a plane these days, I’ve just been with grandchildren and honestly don’t have the energy or wherewithal to entertain someone else’s kids so they won’t be a problem, even though I love children. I’m just too old to help her out any more, unless it is an emergency situation.
And certainly I could see myself asking a three year old to please stop kicking me, (because it hurts!) because he is old enough to understand, though probably I’d ask the mother first. But if she had already said something to him, I might well speak to him. At one point in time, I was flying a lot with a torn rotator cuff. If someone kicked me, I felt like I might pass out.
She said they flew 32 times in 3 years. If that was true and not hyperbole, it seems like they would have it down pat by now. And who flies that often with a toddler, anyways? How many deceased mothers did she have?
Agree with @sylvan8798 And yes, I stand by what I write. Even if the child has a disability, you still need to be sensitive to the rights of other passengers too. Having a child with a disability doesn’t give you carte blanche to impinge on the rights of others.
Wow @preppedparent I’m shocked you just said that. I totally agree that all parents have the obligation to try to keep their children under control and well behaved. But some children are special needs and if their parents are trying hard to manage their children, then cut them a break and be grateful that your own children are healthy.
I’m guessing that if the child had been special needs, the author of the letter would have included that.
I agree that it’s pretty much impossible to absolutely control a toddler’s actions. BUT-- you’ve got to try!
That mom had an obligation to the people on that flight to do her best to try to keep her child’s behavior from annoying others. It sounds as though she expected an Ipad to do all her parenting for her.
I don’t blame the child-- kids learn what’s right and wrong when the adults in their lives teach them. This mom was apparently too tired of parenting to teach her son anything.
She cries “you don’t know what it’s like”-- but she has no idea what the man’s weekend was like either.
I think she’s in for a boatload of fun when Junior turns 12 or 13, after a decade plus of having mommy defend his bad actions. Parenting isn’t for the weak of heart-- it’s hard work!! But it’s what you sign up for when you take the job. And it doesn’t look like that mom was interested in doing her job-- teaching her son how to behave in public.
Kudos to the flight attendant for moving the man and his son up to first class!
The mom should have to pay for the two first class seats.
I would like to think we would all be sympathetic to anyone traveling with a special needs child, but based on what she has posted, this isn’t the case here. She thought the man in front responded rudely to being kicked. Her reaction was to get even ruder. I don’t feel like that is how most of us would react in those circumstances. And it doesn’t help teach her child how to handle this type situation appropriately. Children learn a whole lot more by watching what we do than by being punished. She calls herself protecting and defending her child. That is just a very misguided view of the situation, imho.
I wonder what would have happened if, instead of the letter, she had told the man that she was very sorry, but at the end of her rope and doing the very best she could at that moment in time. She just isn’t concerned at all about him.
On what airline are 2 first class seats available? Anytime I fly the wait list for first class upgrades is includes most of the main cabin.
don’t take it so hard @melvin123 I have a daughter with special needs, so I’m not in the category you mention. That said, I am sensitive to the needs of families, but my point is that having special needs doesn’t trump considerate behavior and the rights of others.
A lot of bad mom comments here. I wouldn’t let me child kick the seat either but…where are the dads in these stories?
(I get the article subject’s s husband died, but I mean in general…)
If the dad isn’t on the plane-- for whatever reason-- then I don’t think we can fault him for not acting when the child on the plane behaves badly.