Oh, phsaw. Just about EVERY 3 year old will throw a public uncontrollable temper tantrum at one time or another.
Tired, off-schedule, returning from a vacation, maybe seeing grandparents, being on an airplane, and all strung out ... I can see how this little kid might get worked up.
I think the airline was probably right in what they did ... but I also suspect that this is mostly a case of this kid having bad timing.
Not hardly, kids do not throw public uncontrolled temper tantrums when they are 3 years old, that's just BS.
Can they be grumpy? Sure... Tired? Absolutely... Cranky? You betcha.. off schedule? Certainly.. but the idea they will throw themselves to the ground kicking and screaming because of it?? Nope, that's a learned behavior.
Child that age pulls that, parent should IMMEDIATELY pick the child up, take them to the nearest facility and tan their hide, and tell em point blank that is NOT acceptable behavior. Or even better, if you are in a situation where you can do it.. just walk away.. its amazing how quickly little susie or johnny stop acting like that when they know mommy and daddy won't put up with it.
Sorry, but this is not a normal behvior.. our children each tried that crap ONCE.... and learned its not accepted, and mommy and daddy are not going to bend over backwards because you are doing it. At 3 they are old enough to know better, not setting a precident to where you act that way and suddenly mommy and daddy are going to stop everything just to try to bribe or cajole you... that sets the absolutely wrong precidence.
Given the fact this mother admitted openly "She has her moments" clearly tells me this is not the first time this has happened... so, no I'm not buying bad timing... if it was the first time it happened perhaps I'd cut some slack.. but based on that no way... flat out poor parenting.
The first rational and reasonable assessment yet. Agreed.
No kidding. When our daughter was younger, my wife and I would look at children throwing a fit in public with some haughtiness, wondering why they couldn't be as well-behaved as our precious angel.
That all changed when our son came along.
That being said, when he gets to the point of disturbing others around him, we remove him from the situation. I don't see anything wrong with how Airtran handled this.