Posted on 03/12/2003 7:54:53 AM PST by eyespysomething
Toddler tantrum grounds jet By James Sturcke, Evening Standard 12 March 2003 Like any two-year-old Marcello Ferrand is prone to the occasional tantrum.
So when an aircraft crew tried to make him wear a seatbelt he panicked and sat under the seat - the kind of scene any parent will recognise.
However, for the staff of a British Airways flight from Milan to Heathrow it demanded immediate action - which resulted in the police being called and Marcello, along with his grandparents, being hauled off the plane.
The airline's ground staff then refused to let the elderly couple and Marcello, who lives in Kensal Rise, travel on a later flight. They then had to pay £300 for tickets with Alitalia to get home.
Marcello's grandmother Mariella DeNatale, 70, said the cabin crew had completely overreacted and had been responsible for scaring the toddler in the first place.
She said: "The police came aboard, checked our passports and then took us to a waiting car. I have flown all over the world and never had an experience like this. I felt like a Third World citizen."
The Airbus A319 with about 100 passengers was further delayed while the family's luggage was removed. It arrived at Heathrow 45 minutes behind schedule. Ms DeNatale, a former fashion editor for Vogue in Italy, added: "We were treated like rubbish. The captain told us he was not prepared to take us to London. It was a very bad experience. I will never buy another ticket with BA."
The scene took place as the aircraft was taxiing to the runway on Sunday morning carrying Ms DeNatale, her husband Peter Van Schalwyk and Marcello.
The couple boarded the 11.45am flight with their grandson, who had been staying at their Milan home. Marcello went to Milan with his mother, Margherita Gardella, 39,
deputy fashion editor of Harpers & Queen, who was attending fashion shows. Ms Gardella then flew to France for Paris Fashion Week, leaving the grandparents to bring Marcello back.
Mr Van Schalwyk, 64, a retired advertising director, said: " Marcello was in the seat between Mariella and myself. We had trouble getting him to put on his seatbelt. Three cabin staff crowded round him. They were quite aggressive. When one appeared with a special child seatbelt, Marcello took fright and hid under the seat. He was scared. He cried a bit but he was not screaming madly or anything. It's not like he was Dennis the Menace taking the plane apart."
Marcello's father, Nick Ferrand, 41, who owns an architect and interior design firm, said: "I was waiting in arrivals at Heathrow for over 90 minutes and no one told me anything. As a dad you fear the worse.
"Of course two-year-olds have tantrums but Marcello doesn't have any more than any child his age. Eventually I was informed they had been removed from the flight. I know airlines have to be careful but throwing an elderly couple and a two-year-old off the flight was ridiculous." A British Airways spokeswoman said: "It is absolutely imperative for all passengers to be wearing a seatbelt during take-off, landing and when the fasten seatbelt light is turned on. This is for their safety.
"The captain was called and reinforced the importance of being strapped in the chair. After speaking with the accompanying adults he made the decision to off-load the family."
A friend of mine threatens his teenage daughter that if she doesn't behave, he'll start yodeling in front of her friends. Works very well!
I may be out n a limb here, but I'm guessing you've never had a two year old. Spanking is DEFINITELY not the way to quiet a two-year-old in a tantrum. It is seriously counterproductive.
I know a single mom like this. This is how she talks to her son: "Oh, honey, would you please do this? Please, honey? Don't be mad at mommy, but mommy really needs you to do this. Please, honey? Is that all right, honey? You're not mad at mommy, are you? Please, please do this, honey! But don't be mad at mommy!" He never does do what she's asking, either. Never. And all he has to do is say, "I hate you!" and she dissolves into tears and begs him to stop saying that.
Every time I witness this, my lips are just about bleeding from biting them, holding back the screams. I don't have kids, so I know it's easy for me to criticize the way others raise their kids. But good God! That just can't be the right way.
That's the solution. Might not stop the tantrum, but it would solve the seatbelt problem. Wouldn't surprise me if this kid is rarely, if ever, buckled in a car.
I never spank in public. There are too many busybody whackjobs out there, just waiting to call in the government forces. My experience though is spanking is rarely necessary, so long as the kids know you're willing to resort to that if nothing else works.
We travel a lot and you have to plan ahead. A backback with favorite toys, crayons, paper and snacks is essential. For a kid that young you need a bottle (if still using) or gum for takeoffs and landings because they don't know how to clear their ears from the pressure.
The airline crew isn't blameless. Surrounding a two year old with strangers in uniform all talking to him will make matters worse, not better. Some flight attendents aren't parents and have the sensitivity of an ox. We were beginning the last leg of a trans-atlantic flight when we were given an air control hold, resulting in sitting in place on the tarmac for 45 minutes. After 8 hours of flying, all our two year old wanted to do was crawl into mommy's lap and fall asleep (after which she could have been put in her seat, of course). A flight attendent insisted our two year old could not sit on my wife's lap (where she would have been asleep in a minute), but had to sit in her seat, belted in, even though the plane was not moving and not about to move. All appeals to reason and maternal instinct having failed, my wife put her in the seat and treated the passengers to a 45 minute serenade.
I don't know about the British, but the French are not afraid to slap faces around in public to kids, women and men. It's one of their national past time and a drinking game too, called "you are a slap face". Gallic humor for you.
It ain't. The little savages need to learn from day one that Daddy and Mommy are In Charge. Always. The way to convey that message varies as the child grows, but convey it parents must. Your exemple of bad mothering conveys exactly the opposite message: that Johnny the Little Barbarian is in charge. He's learnt that lesson well, and practiced its application to perfection.
Sorry to disagree.
Not aboard a British Airways jet, you don't. English law forbids corporal punishment.
OR when they visit others homes. Visiting children running amok prompted me to hang a sign I found at a swap meet on my front door that reads "All dogs welcome, children must be on a leash."
The sign always gets a comment from parents. That is when I laughingly state that it is for visitors that ignore a childs bad behavior while at my home, which I am sure does not include them. The sign has helped greatly for 10 years.
On the contrary, that's the best time.
If sweet reason and cajoling doesn't work, after appropriate warnings a spanking can be very salutory.
My daughter was younger than that when she decided it would be fun to kick - hard - when her diapers were being changed. One correction, one warning and finally a promise that the next kick would get a spanking, she did it again.
Three whacks on her diapered behind, hard enough to hurt but not to injure, were VERY effective.
SO effective that I never had to spank her ever again. EVER !
She's thirteen now, and obviously beyond spanking, but judiciously applied it's a good thing to do.
don't despair Capt. I'm sure a large percentage of these fatherless boys will grow up to be perfectly law-abiding homosexuals. (I'd rather they be mentally healthy felons to be truthful)
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