Little Miss Sunshine

March 27, 2010

in Baby & Kid Stories

I like kids, but…

Last week, a younger couple with two small kids flew across the aisle from us on a MSP to CDG overnight flight. The 3 year old decided to play peekaboo while climbing all over the seats, and when the mother tried to get the kid to calm down, she started to shriek. So, for the entire 9 hour flight, about every three or four minutes the kid would start screaming or babbling at the top of her lungs. The mother basically did nothing, while the father did less than nothing, as he preferred to read a book while the little angel was keeping everyone up ALL NIGHT.

So about 6 hours into the flight, my wife starts to pass out from a combo of sitting up in an uncomfortable seat, and exhaustion. We walk to the back of the plane, where she lays down in the crew area trying to get the blood back into her head. The crew was going to call for a doctor, but when I explained what was going on, they moved her to 1st class for a bit to stretch out (lucky!).

Of course the kid is screaming through this; about 50 passengers all around never said anything but you could tell they were furious. As the sun rose, you could see the tired glares of the unfortunate people as they scowled at Little Miss Sunshine who was now beyond tired, and now grouchy. Of course, the kid finally fell asleep about 10 minutes from landing. I couldn’t help but think of the flight attendant who was fired for slipping some stuff in a kid’s bottle a few years back. In my mind, he or she was a hero.

When my kids were young, we always tried to tire them out before a long plane trip, with some success. However, twenty years ago, our two-year old made a flight miserable for an entire planeload of passengers while my wife tried in vain to get him to settle down. A kindly lady next to her offered the advice that giving a little bit of Dramamine or Benadryl to the kid would usually be enough to ensure that the kid would sleep through most of the flight. After that, we didn’t have the problem for him or our other kids when they reached that age.

I was appalled when my kid disrupted a whole plane, and I for the life of me can’t understand how some parents can be so oblivious. This wasn’t eardrums or sickness, just wanton inconsideration on the part of two parents who were probably spoiled brats themselves at one time.

Thanks for letting me rant!

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

Clare March 27, 2010 at 5:30 pm

While I can completely understand your disgust with the parents who did nothing while their toddler fussed constantly, I'm appalled that you would consider any flight attendant who slipped drugs to a young child to quiet them down or put them to sleep as being heroic.

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LoveIt! March 28, 2010 at 6:49 am

Noise-cancelling headphones…God's gift to deal with screaming children.

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Kiri the Can Opener January 27, 2011 at 11:34 pm

Only if you manage to find the exact size that correctly seals the lips when you jam them in the little tyke's mouth.

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Justme March 29, 2010 at 5:39 am

So let me get this straight. You drugged your kids to get them through a flight so that you would not have to be bothered with being a good parent who entertains their child or just putting off long flights (when possible) with a child that’s too young to know how to behave? ::astonished look:: And you think the other parents are wrong? Wow. All I can say is I feel sorry for your children.

I cannot believe anyone would think it was okay for a stranger to drug a child let alone the parents. You have no idea what allergies that child has and that FA was rightly fired.

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Josh March 30, 2010 at 4:17 am

Oh lord, I don't know if any of you have kids, but keeping a 3 year-old entertained on an 18 hour flight is not something even the best parents can always accomplish. While I don't advocate giving kids medication to keep them sleeping for a long flight, I can certainly understand the desire to do so and wouldn't be so arrogant as to call them a bad parent for doing so.

Also, I think he was joking about the FA being a hero. Obviously, any parent would be pissed if a FA gave their kid any kind of drug without the parents' knowledge. I think you need relax over that one and learn to differentiate between a joke and a serious comment.

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Sabrina March 30, 2010 at 8:10 am

sorry everyone…I am with the poster here-I would not have a problem slipping my child(s) a little something either.

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bob April 2, 2010 at 6:30 pm

when i was six months old my parents basically knocked me out (with drugs) for a 5 hour flight. after the flight i woke up full of energuy tho

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Bratfree April 7, 2010 at 9:52 am

Parents need to either knock their spawn out or put them in the cargohold so they don't annoy other passengers, especially since they do not have to pay for their infants and toadlers to fly.

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NomdeVoyage August 19, 2013 at 1:07 pm

I would imagine that the pediatrician could give you something to "calm the child down", if you explained that they were about to take a very long and difficult flight. You know, like they do with pets. And I expect the doc has been on a bratty-kid flight or two, and would understand.

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Amber May 18, 2016 at 10:34 am

Drugging young kids with drugs that are not recommended for their young age is irresponsible parenting at it's finest. OP, you are a bad parent to think drugging your children is ok.

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