Fed up with a kid kicking her seat on a 4-hour flight, she asked the parents to switch seats — the dad stunned her with his response
Flight travel provides one of the quickest modes of transit but it often comes with its hassles, such as unruly child passengers. When Courtney A Seard (@courtneyseard) was flying on a 4-hour flight, she was constantly being kicked by a kid who was seated right behind her, accompanied by his parents. Unable to tolerate it anymore, she firmly told the parents to switch seats, but the father's reaction left her stunned. Sharing the story with her Threads users on February 16, 2026, Courtney revealed the challenges of living childfree in a child-filled world, per Newsweek.
Seard took to Threads to share her recent flight encounter which took an unexpected turn when she confronted parents of a child seated behind her. Unable to sit through the rest of the flight while her seat was being kicked constantly, she reacted like any frustrated passenger would by reminding the parents of their responsibility to manage their child’s behavior in a public setting. She just wanted them to switch seats. While most parents go into defensive mode when they hear complaints about their child, this father's reaction left Courtney speechless. He immediately apologized for their part, and obliged to her concern by moving his child to the middle seat.
Seard, who was speechless by the dad's immediate reaction, expressed her shock over seeing a parent who took accountability for their child's mischief. The Threads user, who is childfree, revealed that although she is aware of living in a world filled with children, she would not tolerate nuisance from kids due to parents failing to discipline their kids. Speaking to the outlet, Seard noted that she is neurodivergent and urged parents to take responsibilities for the kids. She said, "I didn't feel upset, just firm. I thought everyone here deserves a peaceful experience, including me." In a sweet turn of events, she later offered the kid some of her cookies. The original post attracted more than 200,000 views and 22,000 likes from online users who shared similar thoughts on her experience.
Threads user @taelorjae_ echoed her thoughts as a fellow parent. She wrote, "As a parent, the first person my kid is bothering (let alone, embarrassing) is me. Just yesterday we were in a restaurant and my toddler started trying to scream. I immediately put my hand over her mouth and gave her the 'mom voice' to hush or we're leaving immediately. Having kids doesn't give you the right to disrespect everyone around you in public spaces." Another user @reensjp commented, "I had this experience once, and after I calmly asked the mother to tell her child to stop, I heard her tell him when I turned back around 'kick it harder'. The fact that I am not on the no fly list really is a miracle." @swallow1728 wrote, "Last time I traded seats for someone else I was in front of a toddler who kicked my seat the whole flight parents never once corrected her the mother said she's just a baby she was at least 3 plenty old enough to understand what no means parents never once said no."
The father's reaction must be a lesson for every parent who travels with their children, because some of them choose to be entitled. Take this mom for instance. When a Reddit user who was flying during an exhausting journey was blocked by a mother onboard who demanded he trade his window seat for her little son. The kid began screaming when the user declined their request. However, as the mother grew persistent, the flight crew intervened. While the mother expected the crew to side with her, they instead shut down her entitlement. Together they called her and her son "brats" and instead offered the man a business class seat.
For more such fun and interesting content, follow @courtneyseard on Threads.
More on Amplify
Flight attendant reveals the one extremely common passenger request they will always decline