【Writer's Bullpen (2009)】

Taking candy from a baby is Writer's Bullpen (2009)easy, but there's zero reason that parents should be handing it out to strangers on a plane to buy cooperation in case their kid screams. No matter what the internet says.

On Friday, reddit user "Fe_Mike" posted a photo of gift baggy and a little note “written” by a three-month old with the comment, “Lady on the airplane just handed this to all of the rows around us. She now has an entire team of passengers ready to help.”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because these little handouts -- usually filled with some candy and a set of ear plugs -- have become a full-on viral trend.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

On the surface it's a nice gesture, but as the mother of twin toddlers, every time I see one of these baggies go viral I am filled with rage. Other moms and dads I've talked to say the same thing. That's not to say the individual parents who give these out are doing anything wrong. They're just trying to be nice -- a good instinct in these tense times.

Goody bags send the message we should feel bad for having babies who act like babies. We shouldn’t.

The cumulative effect, though, of these goody bags sweeping the feel-good internet is to build in the unrealistic expectation that the next time you board a plane and see someone holding a baby that person owes you a preemptive apology in the form of Tootsie Rolls. The thing about these goody bags that has rubbed many parents the wrong way from the start is that they send the message we should feel bad for having babies who act like babies. We shouldn’t.

SEE ALSO: Delightful woman in her 60s has the best time on her first flight

If my child screams, it may annoy you. But there are a million ways adults can be equally annoying -- and they should know better. I once spent a flight trapped next to a man who packed and consumed not one but threeintensely smelly tuna sandwiches during the course of the trip. I did not receive a single goody bag for my suffering.

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Surviving air travel with our sanity intact is hard enough for all of us, not just parents. But most people who fly with their kid have also dragged a car seat, a stroller, extra food and diapers, and approximate 9,000 tons of other miscellaneous supplies. The next time I wrestle my wriggling toddlers and all their crap onboard, I shouldn't have to also stress that I failed to bring a dozen charming packages full of snacks for everyone around me.

We may not be handing you Instagram-worthy gifts, but the vast majority of parents are already going above and beyond to make sure our children don’t bother you during the flight.

We may not be handing you Instagram-worthy gifts, but the vast majority of parents are already going above and beyond to make sure our children don’t bother you during the flight. Trust me when I say, the most stressful part of traveling with a baby is not trying to clean up the inevitable poopsplosion in the minuscule aircraft lavatory during turbulence. It’s worrying non-stop for the entire journey that our child will become inconsolable and disrupt the trip of every passenger within shouting distance.

Truthfully, I’ve never been on a flight with my kids where I even needed to bribe my fellow passengers. They’ve all been very understanding and even helpful. (Though I’m willing to admit that maybe the insane circus of trying to travel with twins has inspired people to take pity on me and my husband.) As long as everyone does their best to behave as well as they can, usually things work out perfectly well.

Pinterest

Still, even if you do encounter haters, who cares? You find them on the ground too, and you don’t bend over backwards to please them there. So why should you worry about it at 30,000 feet?

At this late date, we all know the pains of travels -- tiny seats, no frills, selfish idiots and, yes, screaming babies. If you choose to fly without noise cancelling headphones, you've earned whatever aural suffering comes your way.

If my child spills on you or grabs for your phone or tries to lick you (it happens!), I will apologize and do whatever I can to make things right. But I will not be hitting Pinterest for goody bag #inspo before I fly with my kids. And no one should feel like they have to. We have bigger problems to worry about in 2017.

Let's all just be as kind as we can and remember that no matter how annoying an excited toddler is to you, he or she is almost certainly 150% more irritating to his or her parents. If you want to become a real viral hero, buy that parent a drink and offer to hold their baby while they drink it.

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