People who are parents of young children today confuse me. What the hell are you thinking? Why are you bringing your child who is not even old enough to go to kindergarten to a sit down restaurant? And taking them on a trip on an airplane? Are you nuts? Hello, McFly! Think! The child is going to throw a fit. It’s not a matter of if, but when.
Seriously, have you no common sense? I don’t care what an angel your kid is at home, the odds are pretty damn high that it’s going to annoy the hell out of someone (if not everyone) trapped on that airplane.
You need to hear this and your friends aren’t going to tell you. Your family won’t tell you. A complete stranger is telling you, don’t take your toddler or baby on a plane unless absolutely necessary. Did you get transferred to another state? Is your significant other about to be deployed & you are moving to a new base? Are you fleeing from impending doom? All sane reasons to take a toddler or baby on a plane. Otherwise, let the far flung relatives come to you. Save the trips to Washington DC and Disney World until they are old enough to remember them. Hell, save your money for things that are more practical.
Maybe I’m just out of touch with reality and stuck with an old fashioned notion of the roles of parents and kids. But, back in my day (shakes a stick angrily) kids didn’t go out to dinner until they were over the age of 5 and that was just for very special occasions. Sure, we went to kid friendly places like McDonald’s or a local ice cream parlor, but it wasn’t very often. It was usually too damn expensive to do it more than once a quarter, if that.
I just don’t understand it. Why are parents going out so much with their little kids? Aren’t you miserable when they throw a fit because they dropped their brightly colored plastic cup filled with water? Why don’t you get a babysitter or just stay at home with them until they are old enough to sit quietly in public for an hour? A kid standing on a seat in a booth staring at the patrons next to them? Not acceptable.
It’s not the kid’s fault. It’s your fault for taking them out into a place where they are bored or uncomfortable. They don’t know how to handle those feelings maturely. They just learned to walk!