How to Treat Parents on Planes

We've all been there: on a flight sitting a bit too close to a screaming kid. Wanting to scratch our eyes out - no, rather poke our ears, anything, really to stop this nightmare.

Have you been on the other end of this? As in, the exhausted parent trying to calm down their kid(s) before the whole plane kills you with disapproving angry stare? This is why we hate us... you think. And yes, that’s exactly true.

I got to a point in my parenting journey when my kids (and husband) have grown enough to let me take a trip on my own. As in, alone. Without any of them. OMG, I thought it would never happen! A real trip! “Me, my swamp, nobody else!” © Shrek. Okay, no swamp, just the airplane, and me, and the flight, and my. own. vacation.

So here I am, getting nice and comfy (not really if you have flown economy, squeezed between two larger guys). In any case, I’m comfortable enough because I get a break from…..

…. Or do I?!...

This particular time I was presented with an interesting dilemma: on one hand, I wished several kinds of unthinkable to happen to that pain-spreading family; on the other hand... I deeply emphasized with them (I shamefully admit, it hadn’t happened until I became a parent myself).

At first, I was inspired to act. Talk to the mother, offer her help or a few words of sympathy. For a while I contemplated what specifically to do, and how it would actually help. Playing out various scenarios, it looked a lot like the movie "Butterfly Effect" - none of the scenarios ended well! Until in the end, I arrived at the same, simple conclusion as the movie.

Let it go. Mind your own business.

Oh crap, I might have ruined a good movie for you!.... Apologies if that’s the case. Watch it anyway. It’s good. And you know, you could draw your own conclusions, or just enjoy the story.

As for flying with kids…. Be empathic. Let it go. And mind your own business.