I Love Kids, But I Hate Parents

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Although I don't have kids, I do like them.  A lot of people have a misconception and think that The Mrs. and I don't care for children.  That's not the case at all.  I love kids, but I hate parents.  My god kids are wonderful kids.  They didn't do that on their own.  Their parents are the reason that's the case.

It's not like that with all children.  You see, when kids (under 10 especially) act up, it's not completely their fault.  I blame their parents.  Case in point: on my trip to San Diego this week, I sat across from a kid who may have been three years old.  He was very loud and disruptive for the entire flight.  Not once did I get upset with him waking me from my nap at 38,000 feet.  But, I got really pissed at his parents who simply ignored his outbursts.  The kid was wearing headphones and playing with an iPad while using his "playground voice."  Every blue moon, his mom or dad would "shush" him, but it was rarely with any type of authority.  It almost seemed insincere as they rarely even looked at him when doing so.  This irks me.  

Kids are disruptive away from home because they're disruptive at home.  I'm a firm believer of that.  This kid is three years old and already has the freedom to do as he pleases.  His parents have basically given him the power to have his way and that will grow over time.

Aside from the noise this kid created, he also held up the line when everyone was trying to exit the plane.  While his parents were begging him to get out of his seat, he chose to play with his toys instead.  Instead of getting out of our way, they simply sat there and negotiated with a three year old.  This upset not just me, but everyone else on the plane since we were on the fourth or fifth row from the front with 100+ people behind us.  Yet, the clueless parents looked at us as if we needed to understand, "he's just a child."

Whatever.  My parents would have never had that problem with me or my brother.  Any time we were disruptive, we were scolded sternly.  If we continued to act a donkey, then other measures were taken.  I know that a lot of people frown on spankings these days, but they did the trick for me and my big bro.

Once you start a peek-a-boo game on a plane, you can never stop. (Source)

I think that some parents have it hard. I saw a single mom on the plane with a child that looked less than a year old. Sometimes you just have to take your kid on a flight. Surprisingly enough, her child was a lot more quieter than the three year old. No crying. No fussing. Yet a parenting team could not control a three year old from having an entire section wishing they were sitting on the wing instead of beside them.

I read where some airlines are putting travelers with kids in sections together on the plane in the back.  This has been dubbed as being placed in a "baby ghetto."  Kind of an extreme name, but the idea is to move all crying babies as far as possible from those without.  I'm not sure if that's fair or not, but obviously, the airlines are recognizing that there's a problem.  There have also been talks of charging parents more money for kids of a certain age to fly.  That's absolutely ridiculous to punish someone for having a child, good or disruptive.

My solution would be to ban the parents who appear to not try.  If people around them are complaining, then prevent them from future flights.  I know that sounds harsh, but if you're letting your little hellion raise the stress level of people who don't have the option of walking out, then maybe you should consider the train.

Maybe not to this extreme... (Source)

Have you ever dealt with a disruptive child as a parent or "victim" in public?