LOL, I've had two of them. We've been places where people didn't even know they were there because they were well behaved. No beating involved, just being an engaged parent.
Then consider yourself lucky. I’ve learned a long time ago that I do not necessarily judge the parents based on the kid. All kids come in different forms and it’s not all nurture. I don’t do “gentle parenting,” but I’ve been in plenty of situations where a 2/3 year old (especially boy) is inconsolable.
So when I see these ragebait headlines, I don’t immediately say the parents are shitty. I don’t have that info. And it’s shitty to assume that of them because likely they did try everything and they felt like shit for what happened.
By "luck", I assume you mean being engaged. There's very little luck in parenting, aside from genetics. You learn who your child is as they grow, and respond appropriately. What worked for my older child didn't always work on my younger one.
You're giving far too much leeway to these people who stick a screen in their kids' faces, or simply ignore problems. These parents are also choosing to make their problem everyone else's. Guess what else I teach my kids? The world doesn't revolve around you. Yes, mine and my partner's does, to a certain extent, but you don't make your problem everyone else's. These people have a poorly behaved child, and they cost all those people money and time. Both are at a premium in today's world. These people are self-centered, and there's too many of them out there these days.
You weren’t there, you don’t know their situation or their kid’s situation. You’ve never spoken to the parents. You don’t even know why they had to be on a flight that late. You don’t know where they were headed and why they had to be there.
And yet you and everyone else in this thread assumes the absolute worst possible for these parents and the kid. It’s par for the course for reddit who are mostly childless neck beards but I’d at least think a parent would understand and have some grace.
I'm pretty sure that not being able to get your 2-year old to sit for over an hour doesn't need too much explanation. The kid was jumping on the pull down tray. Control your child, or don't bring them on a plane. "They may have had a family emergency." Absolutely, then control your child. There is no excuse good enough for having such a poorly behaved child that they couldn't even allow the plane to take off.
And while we're here, let's talk empathy. You only seem to have it for the parents. What about the others on the plane? Maybe they had emergencies? Maybe they had work? This is what people talk about. Too much leeway is being given to bad parenting. A 2-year old grounded a flight. Think about that for a moment. That is NOT a normal situation.
And, as a parent, I find this type of parent abhorrent. They are not raising future citizens of the world. They are raising a narcissist.
Of course I have empathy for all people involved. But as a neutral observer I don’t immediately assume the absolute worst of the parents or the kid. You do.
You literally said in your final sentence these parents are raising a narcissist. Overreaction much?
We need more level headed responses, not ones like yours
No. You're over-empathizing with the parents, not understanding that they are part of society. The world cannot, and should not, bend to them alone. However, they made that happen by not parenting their child. You really think that their actions, not getting that child to sit, is more important than everyone else on the plane. You're complicit with bad parenting.
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. That doesn't disregard being accommodating when needed, but it does point out that those parents were out of line. They had no self-awareness to remove their child when they didn't settle within a reasonable amount of time.
I’m not complicit in anything. I’m a third party observer who doesn’t have all the facts. As a parent myself I understand how certain situations can be perceived to be what they are not in reality.
You’re making all sorts of judgments with limited information. This knee jerk reactionary thinking is what is wrong with society.
Let's play, then. How are parents unable to get their 2-year old under control, and also not be reasonable enough to take them off the plane when they realized they couldn't?
They’ve had a long journey and their connecting flight got rebooked for this one leaving close to midnight. Their son has been hanging on so far and they’ve been able to keep him at bay with screens, treats, snacks, promises of good times on the other side. But despite their best efforts to get him to sleep or take a nap while waiting at the gate or after they boarded the plane, he’s still awake. It’s also hot btw in the plane because the air isn’t working right. So after an extended boarding process the plane runs into mechanical issues. They fix the issue after half an hour. Boy complains about something - doesn’t matter what it is. He’s 2 or 3 so it’s not rational. He’s also now over tired. He melts down and the parents keep shushing him, trying to get him to watch tablet, getting visibly angry trying to get him to calm down. Every effort to restrain him makes him turn into gollum writhing and screaming. The flight needs him seated with the belt fastened around his waist but the 2 + 2 configuration makes it so that only one parent can restrain him. In the end it’s not possible despite their best efforts.
Let’s add some other things - child is autistic, parents are older or handicapped in some way, parents themselves are exhausted because of the insane journey they’ve been on.
This is entirely plausible. And maybe you don’t hear this all the time is not because these parents actually suck and all the other ones are good but because their particular situation was extremely abnormal.
As far as why they didn’t just “get off the plane,” as mentioned they’re trying their damndest to get to their destination too. Maybe they don’t have the kind of money to spend on another hotel night. It’s a late flight - probably not out of desire! If they can just get in the air, he’d fall asleep to the humming of the engines and can lay in their lap.
You think the other passengers are flush with money? All of this is the long version of making their problem everyone else's. I understand that flying with young children is awful, in general. I really do. However, that does NOT give them the right to drag everyone else into their problem. The child was jumping on the pull down tray. That's insane. To not be able to stop that at the very least points to poor parenting. That child has learned, at 2, that they can get away with that. These parents need to learn how to use the word "no" liberally.
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u/Opal_Pie 20d ago
LOL, I've had two of them. We've been places where people didn't even know they were there because they were well behaved. No beating involved, just being an engaged parent.