“When I have kids, we’ll just slot them into our lives,” I once said to my friend, sinking a second glass of wine, knowing there was no alarm set for the following day. And I meant it. I envisioned parties with friends, a small child snoozing under the coats. Typing on my laptop or reading on the sofa at home, while my child played happily (and quietly). I also imagined holidays, with our little one peering out of the plane window, just as excited for a new adventure as us. And of course, everyone is the perfect parent, before they become one. But I could not have foreseen the reality of keeping a young child safe and content 24 hours a day – especially when travelling.
We’ve taken our two-year-old daughter on a plane several times. Each time, I’ve felt mostly excited, but with an uncurrent of always-there, medium-to-high level of “what happens if” anxiety, mainly worrying about other passengers. This panic – that my child may bother someone else – has been fuelled by a seemingly growing intolerance of children in public spaces.
Ella has flown with her toddler several times
(Ella Delancey Jones)
Restaurants, typically family-friendly affairs, introducing a surcharge for “noisy” children, for example. A fierce debate over who was in the wrong when a three-year-old approached a reactive dog. And, the real humdinger, an onslaught of stories about “selfish” parents taking their kids on flights. “Shame on those parents,” one person says on social media. “Ban small children altogether!”, says another. The argument in every case usually boils down to, on one side, parents trying to defend the rights of their children to live as equals in our society and, on the other, the sentiment that “loud child = bad parents”.
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There seems to be a new story every week about “nightmare” children and their “entitled” parents. So it was no surprise to me to see jubilation as a European airline began testing adult-only zones on its flights. Corendon Dutch Airlines will pilot the idea on flights from Amsterdam to the Caribbean and reserving a seat in the child-free section will cost an extra €45 per flight, rising to €100 for extra-large seats.
In a dedicated family area on a plane, perhaps the anxiety for all – children, parents and other travellers – would be eradicated
Atilay…
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