A couple of weeks ago i was taking a four hour flight to meet my friend. I have always hated flying since it causes me so much stress and anxiety, and what happened made me feel even more worse. From the second I sat down in my seat (way before the plane started moving), I could feel someone kicking my seat. I looked back and noticed it was a child. Two hours into the flight i turned around to ask them to stop kicking. I noticed that the mother was asleep so I addressed the child but when she woke up I diverted my attention to the mother and asked her then gave her a smile. She looked at me in a rather rude way. I turned around and went on with my life. Three hours into it, i was getting fed up. I gathered the courage to turn around again and told the lady, kindly, if she could ask her child to stop kicking my seat. She looked at me and screams "maybe next time you should fly privately". She said that i’m an adult and her kid is just a child. I told her that, regardless, you’re in a public place and maybe you should respect the public. She exploded insisting again that im an adult and that her kid is a child and that i should deal with that. She was acting very rudely, screaming and yelling at me as if its my fault. When i realized this isn’t getting anywhere i turned around and she sarcasticllay told me to have a nice flight.
I’m a very non confrontational person by nature, so i spent the rest of flight wondering if i did something wrong. When i arrived to my destination and told my friend, he agreed that what happened was absurd and suggested i speak to the flight attendant next time instead of talking to the person. I understand she is just a child but it is not my problem. It is the parents responsibility to teach their kid respect for others. If it was a toddler or a baby i would understand, but she is at an age where she can be taught basic manners towards other people. Am i in the wrong here?
NTA. Your seat has a flight attendant call button. Use it.
NTA at all. Yeah you should probably have spoken to a flight attendant, but NTA for asking the child or parent.
NTA. The only thing you did wrong was to not call over the flight attendant after your attempts failed. You are correct, it is a parent’s job to teach their child manners.
I am on a plane several times a week, half of which my children are with me. I travel as the only adult with 3 young children in tow. I speak from experience, as a parent you have to teach your kids how to behave in public.
NTA, next time call an attendant or… be really petty and go and sit behind the woman and kick her seat.
NTA You were calm, respectful, and patient in a really stressful situation. You did nothing wrong. Wanting a four hour flight without your seat being kicked is the bare minimum. The mom’s reaction was the problem, not your request. You handled it way more maturely than most people would have.
NTA. Mannerless on their part. Control your child.
NTA. You’re way more patient than me for waiting two hours. That fly private line is pure entitlement, it’s her job to parent, not yours to sit there and get kicked. Next time just call the flight attendant and let them handle the drama.
NTA. I didn’t even have to finish reading.
Last time I flew and a kid seat I turned around after 10 minutes and asked the kid (about 7 years old) to stop kicking my seat. 15 min after that I turned around and asked the mother to parent her kid, she got really upset but I ignored her. 20 min after that when it hadn’t stopped and she had decided not to be a parent I called the flight attendant and she was forced to switch to a seat with an empty seat Infront of it at the very back of the plane.
NTA. I’m a mother and if my kid kicked a seat 3 times I’d be mortified and apologising. To kick it for 3 hours, well that parent is lucky to be alive. After an hour of kicking, I would have been fully out of parent to parent empathy and offering her outside to resolve this like real women.
Definitely NTA.
I’m a parent of two small children, one at the “kick the seat” age, I’d be mortified if this was my child.
You’ve met an entitled parent in the wild.
NTA
I’m with others here that kicking someone elses seat for hours on end is wild and the mother should’ve parented her kid and told them no.
Being a mom myself with ADHD kids I know this is easier said than done at times. And especially flights are problematic for families with kids.
But there were lots of things this mother could and should’ve done to give you a break. So your expectation that this child stops the annoying kicking is reasonable. The mom was totally out of line.
NTA, I’m sorry that you went through that! As a teacher and a parent it’s concerning experiencing and hearing about the permissive and entitled parenting style that seems so prevalent. These parents think their child’s behavior was somehow not done by their child. They blame anything and anybody else and don’t try to help their child fix the behavior. It’s maddening!
NTA But you definitely should’ve spoken to a flight attendant. I’ve flown with my kid many times. I would be horrified if my child was kicking the seat and wouldve put a stop to it immediately.
No, kids aren’t born knowing how to act in these situations – that’s why they have parents! It’s their job to teach them what to do and what not to do.
We flew with a bag full of activities abd snacks to keep my child occupied and well-behaved so we didn’t disrupt other passengers. I’d be mortified if I fell asleep and random strangers had to be responsible for my child!
Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce.