I watch and listen as they say “Sit still Collin, read your book, look at this Collin, stay here Collin, be quiet Collin, hush now Collin” and this is at the gate. What are they thinking? For the next hour and forty-five minutes, Collin will have to stay seated and ‘buckled in’ in an aluminum tunnel-like unfriendly environment called a cabin. All he sees is the back of the chair and the grumpy old man across the aisle scowling at him.
Attention Mommies at the gate, it’s time to run him! Let him use his ‘outside voice’, and wear the little tyke out! Isn’t it obvious what’s going to happen next? Don’t hold him captive in his stroller, let him loose.
Many airports have kid play areas, but unfortunately they are not next to every gate. And straying too far is not an option for the un-frequent flying mom. With all her insecurities, simply finding the gate, not missing her flight, or being bumped, she has enough to worry about. Maybe someone should write a book, ‘The Boy Who Could Fly’s.
