I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted on taking his emotional support white tiger with him on our flight to Malta…
Emotional Support White Tiger On Airplane? No Thank You.
My son Augustine was never really into stuffed animals, but since his younger sister Claire Marie loves her stuffed rabbit named Coral, now he is too (see how sibling rivalries work?). So when it came to leave Germany and head to Malta, he wanted to take his stuffed white tiger along with him.
Small problem: the tiger is as big as he is and I was certainly not going to pay for an extra seat for his “emotional support” pet. He put up quite a fuss, though.
“Daddy, I need this.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s my helper. You know, like that bird you wrote about on your blog.”
Oh goodness, hopefully not prima-donna in the making… and yes, Augustine is now a blog reader too.
“No, leave him with Oma and Opa.”
“But I want to take him along to California!”
No, no, no.
Ultimately, the discussion ended and Augustine lost. I am his father, not his friend, and giving in would have hurt him, not helped him.
Now the thought did cross my mind to let him take it anyway just to see what kind of reaction he would get onboard. And of course, the pictures onboard would have been funny.
On the other hand, not only would I have been the one who ultimately toted this white tiger around Malta, but it was far outside the dimensions of an approved carry-on item and Air Malta, like most European carriers, likely doesn’t take kindly to “emotional support” pets.
And then when Augustine set it down, Claire Marie picked it up and wanted to take it along too…she could barely hold it!
CONCLUSION
I had a good chuckle when Augustine wanted to take his stuffed tiger along and used my blog coverage of emotional support animals to try and justify it.
Sorry kiddo, the tiger stays behind.
See, that’s how you do it. Put your foot down. That doesn’t mean punching the kids or slapping them on the face. There’s hope and great likelihood that Augustine will not grow up to be a killer or rapist by first being a wild, unruly kid.
” I am his father, not his friend”
I have never respected you more. : )
Beautiful kids that are obviously well behaved, because they listened
The totally stupid stuff our kids do. Will miss their youth once it’s gone, it’s a great age.
A lady who didn’t want to move from her allotted seat for a kid was shamed by this blogger. Different standards.
Just like how MNCs which operate in Russia are not to be boycotted, but Air India overflying Russia means punishment should be doled out.
Love the hypocrisy
You are a pathetic one-trick pony, lol. Sieg heil Modi!
I read the story and found it made me smile. You read the article and it inspired you to write about hypocrisy. Life is finite. Smile and laugh every moment you can.
I feel like now would be a good time for you to show your son Calvin and Hobbes.
Lol. I’ve got them all in a box somewhere.
> Ultimately, the discussion ended and Augustine lost. I am his father, not his friend, and giving in would have hurt him, not helped him.
Good parenting, right there.
I wonder if he reads the comments too.
I wanted to take my girlfriend as an “emotionally support animal” – sadly, the airline said I couldn’t. It was worth a try….