Kids Are People, Too!

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Tuesday Travel Tips with Tiffany! If you missed the first edition, you can find it here!

Many families travel by air on a daily basis. That means that Mom and Dad has to circumnaviate the fun that is the security checkpoint while ushering through their kids as well.

It amazes me how often I see parents basically forgetting that their kids are people, too.

For instance: little Tommy has sneakers on. Mom and Dad have to take off their shoes. But obviously, Tommy's shoes must not count. 'Cause they're, like, small. And cute. So they don't count. Right?

Wrong!

Get 'em off, folks. Anything that you do for yourself, you have to do for kiddo as well.

And isn't it just so precious that Tommy brought along his entire coin collection in his little jeans pocket?

Nope, not so precious.

Ya know that little annoying buzzer that keeps going off? That's to remind you, Mom and Dad, that little Tommy needs his damn pockets emptied. Chances are that the little tyke hasn't yet reached the age of reason and will not know to do that without your urging.

Ah yes, and then there's my favorite: when little Tommy masquerades as a pack mule.

Mom and Dad take their time in getting ready to go through the scanner. In the meantime, Tommy is left holding/dragging/being dragged by their gear.

Which he then attempts to walk through security while holding.

Um, nope. Parents, it's your job to get ALL of the bags belonging to your precious family up on the conveyor belt. Us impatient folks stuck behind you would just love to help, but there's those nasty legal implications for touching someone else's child. So it's your job. Get it?

We can all have a more pleasant travel experience if we just follow the following three objectives:

BE ALERT. BE PREPARED. BE SMART!

Until next time...

Safe Travels!