Can we all agree that parents who leave their children in the care of women, simply because they're women, are among the biggest "parenting fail" candidates?
TikToker Kelli Klement recently boarded a flight and sat down in a row of three seats, with another woman sitting at the other end of the row, leaving the seat between them empty.
But Klement was quickly flabbergasted when a man approached with his maybe-three-year-old son and placed him in the seat in-between the two women, insisted to his son that he would be fine there, and then went to his seat toward the back of the plane.
Klement called suddenly being thrust into an unexpected and unpaid childcare role of a stranger's child "an interesting situation," but over the course of the flight, she had to attend to the child, including making sure that he didn't have any allergies to the in-flight snacks, cleaning his hands when he got chocolate on them, and otherwise keeping him entertained and calm while he was understandably nervous on the flight without his dad.
The TikToker was alarmed, as the dad did not attempt to switch seats or even check on his son.
"I thought he was gonna ask us, like, 'Hey, would one of you guys switch? You know, so I can sit next to my son.' Or you can even talk to the flight attendant."
"I'm still thinking, I cannot believe his dad has not come to check on him. To say, 'Hey, are you good?' I don't know, I thought this was so weird."
Even at the end of the flight, the father had nothing to say to Klement or his son.
"Fast forward to the end of the flight. I'm waiting with the kid until his dad comes through the aisle. And when his dad gets there, and me and the kid tell each other goodbye, the dad says nothing to me."
"Nothing. And I'm thinking...Here's the thing. I was happy to make this kid calm and comfortable. And I was just shocked he didn't say anything?"
"Even like 'Thank you for asking about the food and drink.' Or 'Thank you for waiting with him,' or 'Thank you for just making his experience when he was scared, he was scared to be sitting between two strangers.'"
Klement found the whole situation to be incredibly "odd."
"I'm not even a parent yet but I can't imagine just leaving my kid on a pl—.even if I'm on the plane. Going rows back and not even asking to switch seats?"
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were furious on Klement's behalf that the father dumped his responsibilities on her, likely because she's a woman.
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Others agreed and were alarmed by what else might be going on in the child's life.
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While TikTok was relieved that Klement was willing to help the child and make sure he was comfortable and safe, they were concerned about the father's role in his life and how much the child is or isn't being cared for.
Without even being a parent, Klement asked all the right questions to make sure the boy was properly cared for, and she did all the right things to get him through the flight, but this absolutely shouldn't have been necessary.
Not to mention the fact that the father did not communicate at all, especially to say thank you to Klement for her efforts.
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