Child's repulsive attack on plane passengers behind her

"Is everyone 'gentle parenting' these days? It's not working if your kid is doing this disgusting thing."

Image: TikTok

Shayla Monnier and her husband, Andrew, were in the last hour of their flight when a girl in front turned around and started blowing raspberries; that is, spitting all over them.

According to Monnier, a nurse, it happened multiple times without the child's parents intervening in the repulsive behavior.

“Is everybody seriously gentle parenting these days? Because I’m not about it. Not if you’re spitting in my face,” she begins, in the first of two TikToks describing what happened.

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"It just became a thing"

Monnier, 44, explained that the child looked to be about four of five, and had been asleep between her parents for most of the flight. But once she was awake, it became clear that she wasn't about to stick to any rules.

“I was kind of shocked and the parents told her not to and then it just became a thing,” the nurse continues.

“And she fought against them and turned around on the seat and spat on us again.

“This time I put my hand up, just to block the spit from me, and her parents grabbed her and made her sit down; well she fought, trying to turn around and spit on us some more, and she did,” the mum of five adds.

“The spit was going everywhere,” but even though the girl's parents were wearing masks, they didn't ask their daughter to.

Finally, Monnier's husband had had enough.

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"Get your kid under control"

“After the third time my husband very sternly said to the parents, ‘If you don’t get your kid under control, I’ll do it for you,’ and ‘why don’t you put a mask on her? You guys are both wearing masks, why doesn’t she have a mask?’” Monnier says.

“Then the mum yelled back at him and said, ‘If you had kids maybe you’d understand,’ to which my husband replied, ‘We have five children and six grandchildren and I promise you not one of them would do something like that.’”

The ordeal ended when a flight attendant made the child put on a mask, and she went back to sleep. The flight attendant also gave Monnier, her husband, and the third passenger in their row some complimentary flight points.

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'Gentle parenting' was blamed - and slammed

The clip attracted thousands of views and comments, mostly slamming the girl's parents.

“You were showered in the spit of gentle parenting…” one viewer joked.

“Gentle parenting is absolute bullsh–t. Kids need clear boundaries and structure,” another said.

“I’m on your side…good for your husband!” a third added.

Image: TikTok

However, not everyone agreed that they would have handled things as Monnier did, with this person writing, "It sounds like the parents were reacting appropriately. For sure tell her you didn’t like it. Unfortunately, some kids are super difficult: I’m sorry this happened to you."

Another said they would have, "Probably would have put a book or magazine in the way."

This person agreed: "I probably would have tried to ignore her and asked for two blankets. One for me and one for her. (Tents for spit shield). A solution rather than confrontation."

This article was initially published in June 2024 and was updated in October 2024.

Originally published as Child's repulsive attack on plane passengers behind her