dear e,

yeah - babies & toddlers should be BANNED from inner cities.

on the other hand - why again did NOBODY say anything? personally, i follow the "tolerate it for a while & then do something about it" rule.

i'm already looking forward to my next flight to/from the arab world ...

--raf*

Dashing heads, eh? You'd be a GREAT foreign occupier!

Very, very hard to go after a mother, even if they're clearly doing something that bothers everyone else in the room.

Actually, it irritates me to say this but there's a Sex and the City episode where Samantha gets pissed off for much the same reason (e.g. little kids making noise at upscale Manhattan restaurants).

Re: dashing heads, I think I must have stolen that from a story about Octavian and Cleopatra's heir. Or something Greek. They were big on dashing heads against walls.

children can be so annoying.

i still maintain that many egyptian men are more annoying. just try a direct NYC-Cairo flight sometime.

dear e,

mothers have responsibilities, just like any-/everyone else. and ... parents are responsible for their children. and so on & so forth.

this is just about common courtesy and respect for others. kinda like not offering pork to an observing jew or muslim. the act won't harm them, but it's deeply disturbing - and thus one doesn't do it.

you could've said something. the staff SHOULD've said something. and the mother should read some "how to rear children" books.

GAKH.

--raf*

Oh god, that is exactly what I was thinking when shopping in a nice clothing store in the city the other day, with two moms who were shopping and let their brood of youngsters aged 5-7 literally have the run of the place, they were screeching and running races and generally being perfect brats. Heaven forbid you mention to an American parent that they are subject to the same rules of courtesy as ordinary mortals - you'll get an angry response that you "just don't understand" because you don't have children, or be accused of being anti-child. And I adore children and am on regular doting-aunty duty with the babies of friends and cousins. The problem is not with the kids but with the whiny, irresponsible parents who bring them into the world and then expect everyone but themselves to do the hard work of socializing the kids.

children are overrated