Quote:
Originally Posted by maxiesmom
I will go off that cliff though and say that if someone has a child who can't fly without having a tantrum the whole time (and kicking and screaming is a tantrum) then they shouldn't fly. The whole plane shouldn't have to put up with one child's bad behavior for a few hours. No different than dining out or going to the movies. If your child is not ready, and can't behave appropriately, you don't go.
I love how some parents seem to think that everyone else has to suck it up and accept it when their child behaves badly. If anyone should have to suck it up it should be the parent(s). Your child can't fly without upsetting the rest of the airplane? You should be the ones seeking alternate transportation.
I agree! This past Sept, I was talking to a solo traveler, while waiting to board our plane. There was a little girl about a year old, sitting near us that was really acting up (just wanted down to run around and was fighting and screaming to do so), who was traveling with her grandparents. This little girl had the shrillest voice, I've ever heard on a child. The lady sitting next to me, leaned over and made the comment that she hoped neither of us got stuck sitting next to this little girl. Sure enough, I was sitting in the aisle seat right across from them and the lady I had been talking to was sitting directly in front of the grandmother. To make it worse, they were traveling with the little girl as a lap child. That child screamed, kicked the back of the seat, pulled on the back of the seat in front of them, and hit the grandmother for the full 2 1/2 hours it took us to fly from Dallas to Orlando. That poor grandmother was exhausted, but so were the rest of us, just having to listen to the kid scream. The grandmother even made the comment as they were taking their seats, that she felt sorry for everyone on the plane because the little girl was not a good traveler and always screamed anytime she flew but also screamed any time was placed in her car seat. She said the parents couldn't go anywhere with her. What was bad, was she also said her daughter, son-in-law and their older kids had also left early that morning and were driving down there, and would be meeting them down there the next day. The grand parents decided to fly and bring the baby with them, (even though they knew she would probably cry the whole flight), because there was no way the parents could handle her in the car for 22 hours. The GM said they figured it would be easier for them to deal with her for 2 1/2 hours than to have her go through a 22 hour drive screaming. According to what the grandmother said, they knew from experience that this kid screamed and fought during flights, but in order to make it easier on the parents, decided to go ahead and subject the whole flight to her temper tantrums. Sorry, but that was just rude. Since part of the party was driving anyway and they knew this kid was terrible on flights, those parents should have taken her with them in the car and not subjected the whole flight to her screams. The kid was like 11 months and had already traveled enough, according to the GM for them to know she was a horrible traveler. It was a bad flight for all of us, but I really felt sorry the lady in front of them. Not only was the kid screaming for the full flight, but she was kicking and flinging her arms, standing up in the grandmothers' arms and lunging for the seat back in front of her. I've been on some flights with some bad kids, but usually can just tune them out, but this little girl was horrible. She was actually hoarse by the time we landed at MCO. What was really bad, was that we were stuck on the same flight home with them a week later and it was the exact same thing. This time they were two rows back on the opposite side. She again screamed and fought the grandparents for the entire flight. No one could believe she couldn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't though. She spent both flights trying her best to get out of the grandmothers arms, screaming the whole time.
The OP's child probably would not bother me. A couple of kicks wouldn't be a big deal. After a third kick, I would probably glancde back at the parent to make sure they noticed the kid was kicking. After a fourth kick, I would probably say something to the parent and then if it continued, I'd say something to the FA, asking if I could be moved and if not could the parent control their child. If it was actually only two kicks, it wouldn't have bothered me though.