So you've heard about the 3-year-old who got her family kicked off a recent airplane trip. They're mad at the airline, which they vow to never use again. I myself might become one of its frequent fliers.
Being a child-friendly person, I'm not opposed to screaming kids on planes. The more, the -- well, not merrier, but definitely tolerable and understandable. In this case, however, the plane could not take off until little Veruca Salt was seated, and she refused to be seated. For a good 15 minutes. According to an AirTran spokeswoman quoted by the Associated Press, "She was climbing under the seat and hitting the parents and wouldn't get in her seat."
Meanwhile, the parents were apparently just watching this whole thing unfold with interest. Apparently, they felt they could not step in and, well, parent their 3-year-old.
When my son Jake was about 5, he performed the world's worst temper tantrum in the middle of Target. (It was over a Halloween costume; he'd already gotten one at Walgreen's and was quite displeased to hear he couldn't get another one.) He started grabbing stuff off shelves and throwing it on the ground, he yelled, he bawled, he laid out on the floor.
Somehow, I managed to drag him to the checkout counter, where approximately 200 eyeballs were directed squarely in our direction. Like laser beams. I paid, he screamed, we walked out, he kept screaming, we got in the car, then it was my turn to scream.
OK, so let's change one detail in this horrid tale: Let's say that after we got to the cash register, I refused to pay until Jake calmed down. Perhaps I just stood there as the line behind me got longer, the cashier got more sullen. Meanwhile, Jake keeps up the wailing. For 15 minutes.
Somehow, I think the good folks at Target would have had a word with me.
I think most parents, if we were the unlucky souls on a plane with a 3-year-old crier, would have handled the situation by putting the kid in her seat, buckling it up, holding said buckle on if need be, and apologizing to the flight attendants for being a disruption.
In other words, they'd control their child.
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1 comment:
I totally agree with your point and think we should all cheer for some good-ole common sense. The loving thing to do for a 3 year old who is throwing a tantrum is to help them understand that their "fit" does not change the world (i.e. situation at hand) and that the world does not rotate nor gravitate around their whims and demands. This, done with consistent love and boundaries, helps form impressionable, young minds with the very necessary awareness that they they are not the center of their universe. It's helpful in the longrun to mitigate the psycho-analysis that is certain to take place with adults who were never taught this.
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