Passenger confronts Mom of infant, 4, and 5-year-olds after 'grueling' flight

What would you do if you boarded a flight, and then discovered that you'd be surrounded by children and their parents?

It's certainly not going to be a perfectly quiet, peaceful flight when kids are involved! 

There are plenty of ways to keep kids busy during a flight, but you just can't guarantee they'll behave. Parents can pack them books, toys, snacks, and even an iPad with some headphones. But that still doesn't guarantee with 100% certainty that the little guys will be pacified. They still might spend the entire flight howling, kicking the backs of the seats in front of them, or even just loudly babbling in baby gibberish. It's not like you can look at an 18-month-old and politely request that they stop throwing a tantrum. Parents can try their very best, but at the end of the day, it's up to the children to dictate how the flight will proceed. 

Like what you see? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google. 

Author image for Remy Millisky Remy Millisky
Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • Little girl peers out the window of an airplane.
    via Valentina Chernobay

    Little girl peers out the window of an airplane.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Am I wrong for yelling at a mother of 3 on a flight?

    Yesterday, I was on a full 7am flight leaving from San Fran to Chicago. The flight was expected to be 4 hours and 15 minutes. With boarding, take off and landing, I was looking at about 5 hours with b t in chair on the aircraft.
    via roseinmybud
  • Once I was settled in my seat preparing my eye mask and neck pillow to knock tf out, I realized two feet were kicking me in my back. I could actually feel both feet as United's seats were soft and it was nearly direct contact with my back. I
    via roseinmybud
  • Baby sits on airplane seat.
    via Getty Images

    Baby sits on airplane seat.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • turned around to look through the crack and saw child maybe around 3-4 y/o sitting directly behind me, another child around 4-5 y/o next to her and a mom holding an infant sitting next to him. I slowly turned around and realized the gravity of my
    via roseinmybud
  • situation and that this would need to be handled delicately. I first waited about 10 minutes to see if mom was going to recognize that the child was consistently putting her feet on the back of the
    via roseinmybud
  • chair and tell her to stop. Mom said nothing. Her and her brother were also tapping the entertainment screen on my chair, which I could feel, and messing with the trey table, to which I could also feel. I was so tired and knew I wasn't going to be able to
    via roseinmybud
  • sleep like this so before we took off I mustered up enough confidence to turn around and I very polity asked mom "if she could be mindful that her daughter was kicking my chair and if she could please see to it that she stopped.” Mom said sorry
    via roseinmybud
  • she "she didn't realize" and I sat back down. I questioned how if you were watching your kids. with your own eyes you wouldn't see their feet on the chair, but okay.
    via roseinmybud
  • No less than 30 seconds later the kid was kicking my chair again and I accepted it would simply be a long flight. I managed to fall asleep but about an hour into the flight I was woken up because the little girl was opening and closing the
    via roseinmybud
  • window shade right behind where my head was resting on the wall. I couldn't fall back asleep so I spent the next 3 hours getting kick, having my chair pulled cause the kids were pulling the tre back and forth and having light come in and out
    via roseinmybud
  • because she was messing with the shade. The kid was rotating between one of these three things for the entire flight. I just sat there, said nothing to anyone and suffered. The mom would say "stop" or use a stern "scary" voice and grit
    via roseinmybud
  • "get your feet down" or "don't mess with that" but the little girl really didn't care or listen and just kept doing all of it the entire flight.
    via roseinmybud
  • Finally, once we landed the taxi to the gate took a grueling 30 minutes. Toward the end the kid started getting fussy and having a bit of a fit so she repeatedly started kicking the back of the chair. I couldn't take it anymore. so I stood up, turned
    via roseinmybud
  • around and yelled "please get your kid to stop kicking the chair, please, I can't take this anymore!" I sat back down fuming at the situation and how a person could allow their kid to do this to someone else. I was tired and
    via roseinmybud
  • cranky and I felt bad that I snapped like that. Am I the a hole for yelling at the mom? I get traveling with three kids is hard let alone 3 but she had another adult with her that she could have used. for help. She wasn't alone. And I think there
    via roseinmybud
  • had to have been something she could have done to prepare for such a long flight like have toys, activities sh even snacks to help the kids occupy their time and hands.
    via roseinmybud

  • This flight sounds like a night mare from start to finish! 

    Getting the back of your seat kicked is a true annoyance — it makes it impossible to do anything besides think about when that next bump is going to slam into your spine. 

    However, commenters had some major questions, such as: Why did this person wait until after the flight to scold the Mom, and why didn't they get a flight attendant to intervene? 

    I mean, there's no guarantee that a flight attendant could actually do something… but as some people suggested, they could've moved this person to another seat, were one available. 

  • Mathem... Even for a full flight, it's still best to make the flight attendant aware of the situation. Also maybe they would have a solution you don't know of, such as shuffling the
    via roseinmybud
  • seating arrangement of the family.
    via roseinmybud
  • Pastafa... I use my stern preschool teacher voice and speak directly to the kid. "Please stop kicking my chair, I don't like that."
    via roseinmybud

  • While some people suggested good ideas, it's important to remember that this was all taking place on a flight, not out in a park or a grocery store. You must be on your very best behavior when you fly. If you cause a stir, you could easily land yourself on that dreaded no-fly list, keeping you off planes forever. So when this person suggests confronting the toddler, I'm not so sure about that. What if that upset the toddler even more, and then the Mom got even more irate, and then a flight attendant got involved…? I don't know, seems risky. 

  • Imagine going from being kicked in the back 30 times a minute to getting the first-class treatment!

    yankykiwi You should have asked the attendant if there was another open seat elsewhere. They might have bumped you to first
    via roseinmybud

    I hope this person can do that if this ever happens to them again. After all that nonsense for a mid-length flight, they deserves some proper R&R. 

  • lydocia You should've asked the flight attendant to handle it. I might've turned to the child and said "stop, you are hurting me" directly.
    via roseinmybud
  • I don't understand why adults don't explain to their kids WHY they aren't allowed to do something fun.
    via roseinmybud
  • Mom comforts her baby while they sit together on a plane.
    via Paul Hanaoka

    Mom comforts her baby while they sit together on a plane.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

Like what you see? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google. 

Tags

children airplane
Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From FAIL Blog

Unsympathetic job recruiter learns valuable lesson after one of the interviewees he belittled lands a senior position and gets him fired: ‘I’m glad he has the life he deserves.’

Unsympathetic job recruiter learns valuable lesson after one of the interviewees he belittled lands a senior position and gets him fired: ‘I’m glad he has the life he deserves.’

Trending Now

30-year-old quits her job of 6 years after new coworker, Ben, keeps stealing her work and credit, and faces zero consequences despite multiple complaints: ‘I addressed it with my manager, director, and HR. After a year I simply couldn’t take it anymore’

30-year-old quits her job of 6 years after new coworker, Ben, keeps stealing her work and credit, and faces zero consequences despite multiple complaints: ‘I addressed it with my manager, director, and HR. After a year I simply couldn’t take it anymore’

01
Clever homeowner gets even with mean neighbor, makes the entire neighborhood more accessible while neighbor loses 42 inches of lawn space

Clever homeowner gets even with mean neighbor, makes the entire neighborhood more accessible while neighbor loses 42 inches of lawn space

02
Landlord turns a tenant’s apartment into a 3-month-long renovation experiment, then raises rent because the unit is now considered upgraded

Landlord turns a tenant’s apartment into a 3-month-long renovation experiment, then raises rent because the unit is now considered upgraded

03
30-year-old homeowner uses his F-250 to set boundaries on his property line after the neighbor parks 7 cars in front of his house: 'Now they show a little more respect'

30-year-old homeowner uses his F-250 to set boundaries on his property line after the neighbor parks 7 cars in front of his house: 'Now they show a little more respect'

04
Landlord charges every tenant a flat $500 move-out cleaning fee for years, hits 3 families at once, they group, sue together, and win every cent back plus legal fees: ‘We stood our ground. We filed a collective action, and yesterday we won’

Landlord charges every tenant a flat $500 move-out cleaning fee for years, hits 3 families at once, they group, sue together, and win every cent back plus legal fees: ‘We stood our ground. We filed a collective action, and yesterday we won’

05
Manager deletes event planner's spreadsheet, insists on doing it their way, which takes more time; their micromanagement predictably backfires: 'He insisted his way was better. Alright then'

Manager deletes event planner's spreadsheet, insists on doing it their way, which takes more time; their micromanagement predictably backfires: 'He insisted his way was better. Alright then'

06
Advertisement