The latest threat to airline security is hot-tempered, stubborn, and three feet tall. No, it's not Verne Troyer, it's the four-year-old who grounded a Delta flight yesterday by throwing a tantrum. When his or her apple juice did not arrive as soon as hoped for, someone's little angel pitched the kind of fit that made a LaGuardia-to-Greensboro flight make an unscheduled stop in Philadelphia, where passengers (who probably felt like screaming and crying themselves) had to spend the night.
Man, Molly and Jessie Rard have the coolest parents ever. Their parents let them skip school for two years and live on the family sailboat! No detentions, no gym class, no tyrannical English teacher who leaves the class window open in January... Well, they still have homework: to help their parents, Washington state boat dealers, update a blog about their family adventures.
Yep, Jim and Jeanna Rard are the coolest parents ever. Who else would say, "Hey kids, we're taking off on a 49' yacht to sail the world for two years"? Kind of makes you want to sail out and join them holding octopi, making dreadlocks and writing nautical poetry.
Find an adult who didn't dream of visiting Legoland as a kid and we'll ... do something awful to such a twisted mind. Maybe it's just us, but surely a visit to the home of those brightly-colored blocks is secretly near the top of many a travel wish list. There are impostors elsewhere, but the original Danish version in Billund recently got a big thumbs-up from a UK Times review.
So what do you actually do at Legoland? While we thought that it was just an endless number of Lego bricks joined together, it seems there is a range of weird attractions next to the expected rides and roller coasters, including:
panning for gold (sifting gravel in a wooden trough) and then having it "melted" into a medal in the Wild West village Legoredo; cooking a bread roll on the end of a very long stick over an open fire and learning to drive an electric car.
We can only hope that open fire isn't burning Lego logs. That couldn't be healthy.
Perhaps because young people who are 4'2" will assure them that the legroom in coach is awesomely ample, British Airways is looking to kids' advice to help shape its future (or at least a press release or two). BA is launching a "Kids' Council," to be made up of 12 young flyers (aged 8-14) from around the world. The chosen few will meet with BA execs twice a year and school them on their travel likes and dislikes.
Though current press info doesn't mention any perks for adults, we wonder if BA would really import 8-year-olds into London without inviting their guardians, too. This could be an opportunity for parents to piggyback along on a free flight. To enter, kids should write "200 words in English explaining why they should be on the council, the ideas they have and the things they enjoy most about flying." Entries must be emailed to kidscouncil@ba.com by April 27. Entrants must have flown BA within the last 18 months.
Did New York's tourism campaign in the U.K. cause a frustrated British teen to decamp for the Big Apple? Gothamist connected the dots this morning in the story of George Lenon, a 17-year-old who fled his homeland, and his homework, for a little partying in the States. A JetBlue staffer eventually caught him at JFK, but not before the teen had time to indulge himself.
Lenon also seems to be quite adept at last-minute vacation planning (or had he been plotting his escape for a while?), as he knew to head to the Jazz on the Park hostel for a cheap sleep and the party atmosphere he reportedly craved. No one knows exactly how he spent all of his time there, but perhaps the Jazz hostel group's Flickr account provides an accurate idea of young George's exploits. Grounded or not, we salute him.
We are happy to announce the return of NewYorkology to Jaunted for the weekly update on things to do in NYC, courtesy of Amy Langfield.
Despite the fact that New York is already manic with holiday shoppers, last weekend I dove into the belly of the beast, taking a pair of 10-year-olds shopping in Midtown's mega-toy emporiums. The goal was to milk the preteen brain trust for advice for parents needing to know what to avoid and what's worth waiting in line for.
And although we spent an inordinate amount of time looking at massive Lego displays, like an unedited Bugs Bunny cartoon, there are adult-targeted nuggets hidden among the child-friendly entertainment.
There is a counterintuitive lesson in this story from over the weekend, about an Egyptian woman gave birth mid-flight on a British Airways plane between London and Boston. After she went into labor, the plane was diverted to Halifax, but before it arrived her baby was born with the help of two medical students and the cabin crew.
The lesson is not that pregnant women should avoid flying, but that the wealthy should always spring for first class seats for their help. You see, while this woman was flying in first class, her maid was in economy, and remained aware of the entire labor process. She found out her boss had given birth after the plane had landed!
See, at the very least she could have gotten her a bulkhead seat.
Despite the paper's general reputation for being dry, the Wall Street Journal is a fount of salaciousness this week. Never mind the coverage of theme parks; today the WSJ tackles the divisive issue of sedating children--mostly infants and toddlers--when they travel.
Yes, some parents give their children antihistamines, like Benadryl--which counts drowsiness as a side effect--so that they'll be calm during a plane ride instead of turning into the screaming, seat-kicking monsters seated directly behind us. Other parents find this tactic reprehensible, preferring to distract their kids with DVDs, coloring books, and whatever else works. Anyone who has ever watched a Baby Einstein DVD can attest to sedative properties as least as strong as Benadryl.
We wholeheartedly endorse sedating not just infants, but all children, up through the age of twelve. And Bendadryl doesn't go far enough: what about a little bit of whiskey in their milk? Maybe some children's chewable Xanax? Whatever gets you through to your destination with a quiet kid is alright by us.
0 Comments - Add Yours
by egw
