FlowerChild said:
We travel by plane a LOT - both domestically and internationally. Children under the age of 7 are a FREQUENT problem on these flights. ...........
Perhaps airlines could offer special "family flights" where the parents can ALL enjoy other people's children for 3 or 4 or more hours.
O heck no! Please spare me! LOL
We fly about 3 times a year (adding up to a total of 12 different planes) internationally (part domestic) and have done so since our daughter was 2. She's a third-grader now. Although we have never experienced any delays due to small children, we did suffer through youngsters kicking the backs of our seats, peeking between the seats and keeping staring or trying to grab things off of our trays etc.. It was a precious moment when our then 5 year old whispered in my ear "mom, can't their parents
do something about them?!?".
She's always been a very wellbehaved traveller - the only time she caused 'trouble' was when she got sick on her first flight. She threw up all over me and her and obviously we had to fuss around to get everything cleaned up etc., and I'm sure some people were annoyed with the isle being more or less blocked temporarily. (For some reason
thank goodness it didn't smell, and she turned out not to be air sick -which we thought- but just plain ol' sick).
We never 'drugged' her, and she has always had her own carry-on filled with books, coloring books, cd-player and other small toys and games. I always brought (actually still do) her own child-sized sleeping bag (bah humbug at the flimsy airline blankets) which she snuggles up in as soon as we're allowed to move after take-off.
I have gotten weird stares from fellow passengers when I roll up the sleeping bag at the end of the flight - some have actually told me they hadn't realized they were sitting near a child. In fact, when she was 3, the people sitting directly in front of us turned around in surprise when getting ready to deplane and said they never even knew she was there. Now I don't need my child to be invisible, but for being on a plane - that was a
huge compliment.
Trust me, when she sees kids in the waiting area of the plane she always whispers she hopes they're not anywhere near us.... LOL!
I also find it culturally significant that in other countries children seem to be better behaved and overt displays of discipline are rarely seen - the "look" seems to suffice there - like it used to suffice here. In fact rarely in Europe, do such wild outbursts occur and when they do, the parent either handles it in seconds or removes the child. It is so much more pleasant to do things without children running uncontrolled thru stores, restaurants, museums, and public places (other than playgrounds or amusements). What are THEY doing different?
You know, what is strange is that I see it the other way around... exactly what you are saying about "in Europe", I would say about "in the US". After having moved from Europe to the US it was a relief to find that parents actually raise their children here. Of course I found exeptions to that, but in general I find children in the US a lot better behaved than European ones, and that goes all the way from the little ones to the teens.