A few Sundays ago, I was flying from Port Elizabeth to Lanseria. I was sitting on the right side of the plane and on the left side were three couples with babies, a very young baby and then two of about 10 months old. It is about these two ten month old babies and their parents I want to tell you about.  The one was sitting across the isle from me and the other one about 4 rows towards the front. This little one across the isle from me was happy and content, she had a bottle of milk to drink and at times she sucked on bilktong. She talked to all around her in her own language. The baby sitting in front of us wan crying most of time. He moved from Mom\’s lap to Dad\’s lap and was only offered orange juice. he would have a sip and then pushed it away. I had a feeling that he was been weaned from the bottle as Mom was pregnant again. The parents next to me had a peaceful but friendly attitude. I heard a firm no from them.twice and the child responded positively.   The baby in front was not happy and the reason for his unhappiness was not discovered.He cried all the way.  I was trying to think what the reasons for his very obvious unhappiness was. Could it be that he was hungry - the other one was so happy sucking and chewing on the piece of biltong. Could it be ear ache as his crying became worse when the plane started descending? Could it be air sickness? Mom\’s tummy(she was about 6 months pregnant) prevented him from sitting for too long on her lap. He often moved to Daddy. The woman next to me said this child needs a few spanks on the bum.  At one stage I wanted to get up and walk with him down the isle The parents next to me had the middle seat open while the other parents left the window seat open. I was wondering would the middle seat have done the thing, would the bottle and the biltong kept him quiet? I was so sorry for him. The one child\’s parents understood his needs while the other one was so unhappy.

Parenting is not child\’s play. I do not think that we can blame the parents for what happened. Two children of the same age can act very differently under the same circumstances. The second child\’s parents had nothing to comfort him with. They were not as well prepared for the flight as the other child\’s parents. I cannot understand why he did not have a bottle. Parents really need patience and wisdom.

The little month old baby slept through most of the flight.

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