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Airline rant and difficult child
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 27669" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>On the subject of flights with kids - I remember a particularly unpleasant flight coming home from a Perth holiday - VERY long flight, across the full width of Australia. My older three kids (this was before difficult child 3 was born) were all very young. easy child 2/difficult child 2 was 16 months old and had been cutting all four of her two year molars on the trip. difficult child 1 was not quite 3, easy child was not quite 5. We had to sit in pairs because of how the seats were arranged. husband had easy child next to him and I had difficult child 1 next to me. because the baby was under two, I had to have her on my lap.</p><p></p><p>Things weren't too bad until they brought the meals. I don't know what possessed them, but despite being told the kids would be fed separately, they brought the meals for difficult child 1 and easy child at the same time as the adult meals. naturally, easy child 2/difficult child 2 was delighted to have so much provender within grabbing range. I just managed to grab difficult child 1's orange juice before she sent it flying onto the passengers in front. I quickly stood up with the baby, but difficult child 1 needed help with feeding himself. Left to himself he was going to spill things. Even easy child needed help and husband was snowed under, just trying to help one of them. Meanwhile the staff kept coming back to see if we'd finished yet and kept trying to take it all away again since the kids weren't eating without our help.</p><p></p><p>I was trying to stand beside my seat in the aisle so I could lean across, feed difficult child 1 and also shove the occasional morsel from my tray into easy child 2/difficult child 2. Then the cabin crew would come back and order me to sit down. I said to them, "If I sit down, I and other passengers will be wearing the contents of this tray." I asked them several times to help me - I was not well, having trouble just walking, let alone standing holding a struggling baby. Every slight lurch of the plane almost had me falling, holding the baby. They told me to go stand up the back near the jump seats they use when landing, for cabin crew, but none of them even offered to hold the baby while I had a chance to eat something and feed one of the kids. They were very rude and I was in tears, trying to cope. husband was doing all he could to maintain peace in the seats, having to lean over the back of my seat to help difficult child 1 in front. I even copped it from a stewardess for neglecting my son!</p><p></p><p>Thankfully, husband managed to get the food organised, he grabbed a spoon from my tray and collected all uneaten food and hoarded it on his tray, so when the stewardesses weren't looking I could duck up to my seat, grab something else to eat and shimmy back down to my spot beside the rear toilets to eat a fraction more of my lunch (and share it with the baby). By the time husband had finished having to sort things out (because this slowed him down, too, in trying to feed himself and easy child) he was able to take the baby and let me finish my lunch and finish feeding difficult child 1. By this time all other meal trays had been collected, we ended up accidentally taking the airline spoon with us (they used real cutlery in those days). The spoon is now in our cutlery drawer, a relic of one of Australia's oldest airlines, now long-dead.</p><p></p><p>Back then, the baby was very much easy child. She was a typical baby. difficult child 1 was fairly easy child on the flight also, but very insecure and needing constant reassurance. When people began to look at us he was becoming more withdrawn and anxious, which wasn't helping.</p><p></p><p>I wrote a letter of complaint. Airline staff have a reputation for being helpful in such circumstances, not making the problem worse by feeding us all at once after they had agreed not to, and then bullying me about having to stand in the aisle to eat my meal. Crikey, I was trying to save THEIR reputation by avoiding a food fight! </p><p></p><p>I never got a reply to my letter. Not surprising; turns out they had receivership on their minds only a few years later. Also not surprising, given their cabin service. I mean, I wasn't expecting free babysitting on the flight, just someone to THINK before bringing the meals, or at least holding the baby for me for a few minutes while I fed my son and myself the most spillable items.</p><p></p><p>Tantrums? If a kid is screaming, it's just noise. The sound of the jets will drown it out. But if a kid is throwing food, because some idiot stewardess has dumped it there... I suspect we'd have been in a lot of trouble if easy child 2/difficult child 2 HAD managed to throw the OJ.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 27669, member: 1991"] On the subject of flights with kids - I remember a particularly unpleasant flight coming home from a Perth holiday - VERY long flight, across the full width of Australia. My older three kids (this was before difficult child 3 was born) were all very young. easy child 2/difficult child 2 was 16 months old and had been cutting all four of her two year molars on the trip. difficult child 1 was not quite 3, easy child was not quite 5. We had to sit in pairs because of how the seats were arranged. husband had easy child next to him and I had difficult child 1 next to me. because the baby was under two, I had to have her on my lap. Things weren't too bad until they brought the meals. I don't know what possessed them, but despite being told the kids would be fed separately, they brought the meals for difficult child 1 and easy child at the same time as the adult meals. naturally, easy child 2/difficult child 2 was delighted to have so much provender within grabbing range. I just managed to grab difficult child 1's orange juice before she sent it flying onto the passengers in front. I quickly stood up with the baby, but difficult child 1 needed help with feeding himself. Left to himself he was going to spill things. Even easy child needed help and husband was snowed under, just trying to help one of them. Meanwhile the staff kept coming back to see if we'd finished yet and kept trying to take it all away again since the kids weren't eating without our help. I was trying to stand beside my seat in the aisle so I could lean across, feed difficult child 1 and also shove the occasional morsel from my tray into easy child 2/difficult child 2. Then the cabin crew would come back and order me to sit down. I said to them, "If I sit down, I and other passengers will be wearing the contents of this tray." I asked them several times to help me - I was not well, having trouble just walking, let alone standing holding a struggling baby. Every slight lurch of the plane almost had me falling, holding the baby. They told me to go stand up the back near the jump seats they use when landing, for cabin crew, but none of them even offered to hold the baby while I had a chance to eat something and feed one of the kids. They were very rude and I was in tears, trying to cope. husband was doing all he could to maintain peace in the seats, having to lean over the back of my seat to help difficult child 1 in front. I even copped it from a stewardess for neglecting my son! Thankfully, husband managed to get the food organised, he grabbed a spoon from my tray and collected all uneaten food and hoarded it on his tray, so when the stewardesses weren't looking I could duck up to my seat, grab something else to eat and shimmy back down to my spot beside the rear toilets to eat a fraction more of my lunch (and share it with the baby). By the time husband had finished having to sort things out (because this slowed him down, too, in trying to feed himself and easy child) he was able to take the baby and let me finish my lunch and finish feeding difficult child 1. By this time all other meal trays had been collected, we ended up accidentally taking the airline spoon with us (they used real cutlery in those days). The spoon is now in our cutlery drawer, a relic of one of Australia's oldest airlines, now long-dead. Back then, the baby was very much easy child. She was a typical baby. difficult child 1 was fairly easy child on the flight also, but very insecure and needing constant reassurance. When people began to look at us he was becoming more withdrawn and anxious, which wasn't helping. I wrote a letter of complaint. Airline staff have a reputation for being helpful in such circumstances, not making the problem worse by feeding us all at once after they had agreed not to, and then bullying me about having to stand in the aisle to eat my meal. Crikey, I was trying to save THEIR reputation by avoiding a food fight! I never got a reply to my letter. Not surprising; turns out they had receivership on their minds only a few years later. Also not surprising, given their cabin service. I mean, I wasn't expecting free babysitting on the flight, just someone to THINK before bringing the meals, or at least holding the baby for me for a few minutes while I fed my son and myself the most spillable items. Tantrums? If a kid is screaming, it's just noise. The sound of the jets will drown it out. But if a kid is throwing food, because some idiot stewardess has dumped it there... I suspect we'd have been in a lot of trouble if easy child 2/difficult child 2 HAD managed to throw the OJ. Marg [/QUOTE]
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