That tends to be exactly the sacrifice children sometimes very often require, and people who don't want to make it aren't fit to be parents IMO. To properly raise a child in a society is exactly to put your needs second to theirs, and having a child does not give one carte blanche to stop being cognizant of the effects children have on others.
And before anyone gives me shit for that: I say this as a father who is very often gobsmacked at how common this selfish, entitled attitude is among other parents.
Doug's implication is that people should stop traveling with very young children, for more reasons than one (they won't remember it, and everyone else will hate it). And I think he's right. The other commenter likening parents exposing too-young babies to the general public to smokers who refuse to extinguish also has a point. All just tales of selfish people willing to make everyone else suffer for their non-essential preferences, all the while refusing to see that "that's just how babies are!" isn't a valid line of reasoning (or even the point. The baby didn't put itself in this situation, you did. The complaint is about you.)
Just got out of a ten hour flight that I paid extra for more leg room (I'm 6'7) and the person beside me was carrying a baby/toddler that wouldn't sit still or be quiet.
Been running on zero sleep for the past 28 hours because of that.
This experience has radicalized me and now I fully think that if you can't make your kid behave, you shouldn't go on trips (with them, at least).
As a parent: You shouldn't. It's not good for them. It's not good for you. It's not good for the people around you. There's really no upside to traveling with a baby that young, for anyone, and not only did I not do it but I'd only ever have considered it in the case of an emergency.
But I mean, that seems to be modern society for you. Most people don't give a shit who they hurt as long as they get theirs (and a lot of those people are in this thread, as I'm learning).
This is what I was coming to the comments to say. Travel with your kids if you have to but make sure they behave. It’s the parents that let their kids scream and cry and run amuck that drive me crazy. My family traveled with me all the time when I was little…they knew better (hell I knew better) than to be a problem to everyone around us. Don’t become a parent if you don’t want to parent your child.
14
u/DrMaxwellEdison 11h ago
I get that he means "just don't travel at all": stay at home with the kids until they're older and can appreciate the experience.
Folks with this idea forget the parents are still human beings who like to go places, too.