Courteous parents of twins placate plane passengers by handing out candies with note

[Liberal_in_LA]

The parents of 14-week-old twins gave passengers a gift as a sort of preemptive strike to prevent dirty looks. The plastic bags included hard candies and chocolates and a note apologizing for any noise from the 14-week-old twins.

The Reddit posting immediately spurred a discussion and now has over 3,100 comments. The user who posted the image called the parents “brilliant and thoughtful” and many readers chimed in saying that they’d love for parents to give them gifts and buy them rounds of drinks on flights. But others felt the gesture was unnecessary and think babies on planes aren’t any more bothersome than an obnoxious passenger talking too loudly.

One user wrote: “My thinking is, the kids have to travel too (it isn’t like a movie theater where it is just for recreation), and as long as the parents are doing their best I really don’t mind.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2012/09/04/courteous-parents-of-twins-placate-plane-passengers-by-handing-out-candies/

[rfranklin]

1. Small children should be heavily sedate before takeoff...

The airlines should provide soundproof incubator type containers which the children can be placed in and secured in the overhead.

Seriously, though, in the case of an unplanned landing, small children being held by parents can turn into deadly projectiles.

[karynnj]

7. Boo

It would be idiotic to sedate a baby without any medical reason. Putting the child in a sound proof container means no one would know if they needed help - so that is even more idiotic. Yes I know that name calling is not allowed- note that it is the ACTION that is being called idiotic - not the poster.

My children, all in their 20s, were really good on planes. As babie, we made sure that they were drinking their bottles as the air pressure changed - which helps. As they aged, we made sure they had new books or activity toys that would assume them and we interacted with them throughout the trip. We also kept them strapped into their familiar, comfortable car seats - paying for seats for them.

[rfranklin]

10. Yes, you did the responsible thing with your children...

but virtually every flight I have been on in the last five years there have been small children sitting on their parents' laps who would turn into dangerous projectiles in the case of unusual turbulence or worse events.

[Ilsa]

12. I think anyone flying should assume that there will be

noisy adults and children on board. It's a public place. If you don't feel like listening to noise, you should bring your own ear plugs. At least you'd have control over the quality of what you put in your ears.

You never know how a child will respond to OTC sedation like Benadryl. That drug has revved my kids up, not down, on multiple occasions.

And I wouldn't buy passengers free drinks. They could get so irritable and thoughtless as to start a fight or at least get hostile.

These parents are very kind and went beyond what was necessary.

[karynnj]

14. I agree - I think these parents were fantastic

[Nye Bevan]

11. Benadryl has been my friend (nt)

[backscatter712]

15. Put them in a pet carrier and strap them to the top of the plane's fuselage!

I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message.

[bunnies]

2. Brilliant? No.

Nips would be brilliant! Candy? meh.

[SoCalDem]

4. Nips can be candy

[jp11]

3. What, no calligraphy, it is like they don't even care!

[Scuba]

5. There's plenty of things on the plane worse than small children ...

... the lady with the overwhelming perfume.

... the guy with the BO.

... the Teabagger with the big mouth.

[Ilsa]

13. Loud-mouthed drunks. nt

[KarenS]

6. I think these are very considerate and thoughtful parents,,,,

Babies cry and toddlers act up sometimes,,,, What gets on my nerves is parents that don't care about others and don't confront the situation,,,,

BUT it doesn't say anywhere that when we're in public that we get to have peace & quiet.

I'd love to have these folks for neighbors

[REP]

8. It's families like this that are great to be around

If they're noticed, it's only because they're considerate and funny. Later, probably because their kids are well-behaved and funny, too.

It's the families who expect everyone to give them candy and free babysitting that make things miserable for everyone (including families like the one in the story).

[Ednahilda]

9. What thoughtful parents!

I never took my children on an airplane when they were small, but I did take them to many places where adults anticipated peace and quiet, not the fussing of small kids. I wish I'd have thought of this! I'd be so worried that my children would disturb other people that I ended up stressing myself. I think I might have been able to relax a little if I had made a peace offering ahead of time.

[pa28]

16. Very thoughtful but I can deal with crying kids.

The self absorbed adults at the airport are usually the problem. As it happens they are usually the ones who work themselves into a high dudgeon over noisy kids.

Funny how that works.