I wish I could claim my children are always perfect little angels, but that would be a total lie. While I think they're usually well-behaved, I've also been a parent long enough to know that pretty much anything can trigger a tantrum from my 2-year-old son. Although this doesn't happen very often, when it has, there's little I've been able to do to "get it under control". While many non-parents will be quick to say that this is a reflection of my parent skills (or lack thereof), I'll be quick to say that their asinine comment is a reflection of their own non-parent status.
I want to believe that the Jet Blue pilot who recently kicked a family off his flight when 2-year-old Natalie Vieau threw a tantrum during takeoff belonged to this category because otherwise how could he justify his actions?
According to little Natalie's mom, Dr. Colette Vieau, the child threw a tantrum as they were boarding their flight from Turks and Caicos back to Boston last month. Although the parents were originally unsuccessful at calming her down, they eventually did get Natalie and her 3-year-old sister, Cecilia, to seat down and fasten their seat belts, but they were still told to leave the plane.
Here's what Jet Blue had to say about the incident:
"Flight 850 … had customers that did not comply with crewmember instructions for a prolonged time period. The Captain elected to remove the customers involved for the safety of all customers and crewmembers on board."
Somebody please tell me how a tantrum-throwing 2-year-old presents any kind of danger on board? Also, what does this really say about the captain's ability to truly control any sort of real safety issue if he couldn't even deal with a toddler's meltdown?
I totally understand that the Vieaus were not the only passengers on board and that NOBODY — including me, the mother of two children — likes to be on a flight with a crying child. But this was a tantrum, people, and while tantrums are never pretty and suck for all involved, they do not last forever.
I've never flown Jet Blue, but after learning how unfairly and ridiculously they dealt with a 2-year-old's tantrum, I'll make sure never to book a flight with that airline. I've flown overseas plenty of times with my children and I plan to continue doing it. So, here's a suggestion for all of those who want my children to stay home until they're old enough to "behave" while on board: stay home until you're old enough to be a decent, patient and compassionate human being!
What do you think about this incident? Have you ever flown with your small children? What kind of experience was it?
Images via turnto10.com, AV8PIX Christopher Ebdon/flickr
