Recently I was seated next to a mother with two young boys in a flight. The five year old was by the window, she had the one year old on her lap in the middle. Both kids were cute and noisy in a happy, playful way. It is unlikely they were bothering anyone in the nearby seats - certainly they did not bother me. It was interesting to observe how the mother thwarted the older one by getting him busy with video games on his iPad and the younger one was shushed non-stop until he gave up resisting and fell asleep.
It was a three hour flight and they boys were not heard from after the first hour. Given that both kids were even keeled and were not being a menace to society, perhaps there could have been an other way to manage them without killing their natural energy. The older one seemed to be a bit of a rhymester. He made up phrases that seemed to amuse the little guy who hummed tunes now and then as he played with his brother.
Would it be so wrong to let these two kids find a way to entertain themselves, be more expressive and not worry so much about random strangers who may by chance get irritated by the noise. Most people have headphones these days and can easily tune out. I was thinking back to times when J was this age. Unlike this mother who was very mindful of maintaining decorum, I usually let her be and do her thing. Like her boys, J was not a particularly loud child but she wanted to be left alone to see what was going on, stare people in the eye, try to communicate with them in her baby language and so on. Strangers were never irritated by her and even indulged her.
I am sure such would be the case with these two nice kids too - would be a small price to pay for the mother even if some random person were to judge her for it. With J headed to college, I have started to have an acute appreciation for how precious and fleeting childhood is - every hour of it matters in ways that are not evident long after that phase of life is past.
It was a three hour flight and they boys were not heard from after the first hour. Given that both kids were even keeled and were not being a menace to society, perhaps there could have been an other way to manage them without killing their natural energy. The older one seemed to be a bit of a rhymester. He made up phrases that seemed to amuse the little guy who hummed tunes now and then as he played with his brother.
Would it be so wrong to let these two kids find a way to entertain themselves, be more expressive and not worry so much about random strangers who may by chance get irritated by the noise. Most people have headphones these days and can easily tune out. I was thinking back to times when J was this age. Unlike this mother who was very mindful of maintaining decorum, I usually let her be and do her thing. Like her boys, J was not a particularly loud child but she wanted to be left alone to see what was going on, stare people in the eye, try to communicate with them in her baby language and so on. Strangers were never irritated by her and even indulged her.
I am sure such would be the case with these two nice kids too - would be a small price to pay for the mother even if some random person were to judge her for it. With J headed to college, I have started to have an acute appreciation for how precious and fleeting childhood is - every hour of it matters in ways that are not evident long after that phase of life is past.
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