Have you ever been waiting to board an airplane when you notice a family with a baby? If you don’t have kids, your reaction might be one of dread thinking something along the lines of “I sure hope they’re not on my plane.” Or, possibly you’re thinking, “what a cute baby!”
If you are a parent, you’re probably pretty understanding. Parents who see other parents traveling with young children and babies know how difficult it can be to travel with kiddos. In this case, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of “I’m glad I’m not flying with my kids right now,” or “I remember how stressful it was to fly with a baby.”
Why is it stressful to fly with a baby? Besides the fact that babies can be messy (spit-up and blow-outs, anyone?) there’s the fact that babies can be loud. No one really wants to hear a baby cry, and parents know this. Parents aren’t stressed out simply because their baby might cry though; they’re stressed out because they’re worried what other people on the plane will think and how other people on the plane will react if their baby cries.
One mom from Korea went so far as to assemble little goodie bags for passengers on the plane. Before boarding a 10-hour flight from Seoul, Korea, to San Francisco, she prepared more than 200 little bags filled with candy and ear plugs, one for every passenger on the plane. She even included a note written in the voice of her 4-month old baby.
“Hello, I’m Junwoo and I’m 4 months old. Today I am going to the U.S. with my mom and grandmom to see my aunt. I’m a little bit nervous and scary because it’s my first flight in my life, which means that I may cry or make too much noise. I will try to go quietly, though I can’t make any promises. Please excuse me. So my mom prepared little goodie bag for you! It has some candies and earplugs. Please use it when it’s too noisy because of me. Enjoy your trip. Thank you.”
One passenger on the plane took pictures of the goodie bag and the mom handing them out. He posted the pictures on Facebook saying, “A very touching gesture by the mother but as you know when you have kids expect the unexpected. Not a peep out of the kid.”
Many comments on this post agree that it’s a sweet gesture, but many other comments say that this is completely unnecessary. As one person wrote, “Not necessary, most people understand the stress of traveling with children.”
One parent commented, “Raising the bar way high for the rest of us.”
Very true. Let’s all just get together and agree that we don’t need to assemble goodie bags for every passenger on the plane just because we’re flying with a baby. There are too many other things we need to pack, like diapers, wipes and extra changes of clothes.
Do you think handing out earplugs on an airplane is a sweet gesture, or do you think it’s unnecessary and raising the bar too high?