Singaporean Stewardess Praised for Bringing Mom With Crying Baby on Plane to Tears

October 3, 2017

A stewardess from a Singapore airline recently shared her experience seeing a mother trying her best to console her crying child as the plane landed, leaving the mom

Jolene Shen, the stewardess who was part of the cabin crew, shared her experience on September 26 and highlighted how difficult it is for a parent to travel alone with their kids.

On her Facebook post, Shen recalled how the 19-month-old toddler squirmed on her mother’s lap as the plane made its descent.

“She screamed and buckled n fidget throughout the 20 minutes of landing time, big fat tears rolling down her face. Pushing and trying to slip the infant seat belt down her legs, looking for freedom,” she wrote in her post.

“The mother, a petite lady who looked like she’s in her 30s, tried her best to hold on to the little squirming, screaming bundle, consoling her child and managed to time n again put the seatbelt back on her childs’ waist. She hold her child gently, had her head to her childs’ and whispered softly the whole time. But the child was beyond consoling. She wanted to be freed.”

Many people expressed mixed emotions during the ordeal. Some passengers took deep breaths of air to muster up patience, while others gave the mother empathic glances as she tried to comfort her child. Even Shen tried to help the mother ease up the tension by distracting the child.

“I was clucking n cooing trying to distract the child at where I was seated but no, she wasn’t buying that,” she said.

“Then i realised, that mother was crying. Silent tears of helplessness as she can only watch her child cry in distress. My heart broke that instant. I can only hope that our gate will not be too far away,” Shen continued in her post.

“Chocks on, seat belt sign went off. I went to the mother, rubbed her arms and told her: ‘You did a great job.’”

The mother was presumably overwhelmed by the kind gesture that Shen showed her during the landing.

“She began crying in ernest because of my words and/or from the relief that the flt was over. She stood up, holding her child close to her n sob into her childs’ shoulders,” Shen wrote.

The mother wasn’t the only one affected by what happened. The stewardess admitted in her post that she cried as well after witnessing the struggle of the woman.

“I felt tears rushing to my eyes cos as a mother myself, I knew exactly how she felt. I hid behind the curtain, composed myself and went back to the mother to tell her what a good job she had done,” Shen went on.

What made the story even more heartwarming is the fact that everyone on the flight was pretty compassionate.

“I’m thankful that my pax yesterday were all extremely understanding. No one berated her for not being able to control her child. No one gave her dirty looks,” Shen said.

She also took the opportunity to remind everyone that a parent traveling alone with a child is never easy, and that people should empathize and be more understanding in situations like this.

“Please give them more support the next time u see a mother struggling with a child. Be it a kind word of encouragement, or offering to hold the child for a few moments while the mother have her meal, would be a great help to the mother.”

h/t: AsiaOne

Image via Wikimedia Commons / Edwin Leong (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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