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Parenting

21st Jun 2018

These strangers did an incredible thing for a mum struggling solo at the airport

Keeley Ryan

flying with kids

Flying with little ones isn’t always easy – especially when an airport is involved.

But one story of how a group of strangers stepped in to help a pregnant mum who was struggling while her toddler was having “a total meltdown” will warm your heart.

A woman named Beth Bernstein Dunnington recently recounted the random act of kindness at Los Angeles airport, admitting it wasn’t something she would forget soon.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, she recalled how she had been waiting at the gate to board her flight when she noticed that the little boy was having a meltdown.

Her post began:

“A toddler who looked to be eighteen or so months old was having a total meltdown, running between the seats, kicking and screaming, then lying on the ground, refusing to board the plane.

“His young mom, who was clearly pregnant and traveling alone with her son, became completely overwhelmed… she couldn’t pick him up because he was so upset, he kept running away from her, then lying down on the ground, kicking and screaming again.”

Something extraordinary at LAX today… (writing this on the plane). I was at the gate, waiting to get on my plane to…

Posted by Beth Bornstein Dunnington on Friday, 2 February 2018

As described by Dunnington, the pregnant mum sat down, put her head in her hands and started to cry – with her toddler still having a meltdown.

And then something wonderful happened.

The post continued:

“The women in the terminal, there must have been six or seven of us, not women who knew each other, approached and surrounded her and the little boy and we knelt down and formed a circle around them.

“I sang ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’ to the little boy… one woman had an orange that she peeled, one woman had a little toy in her bag that she let the toddler play with, another woman gave the mom a bottle of water.

“Someone else helped the mom get the kid’s sippy cup out of her bag and give it to him.

“It was so gorgeous, there was no discussion and no one knew anyone else, but we were able to calm them both down, and she got her child on the plane.

“Only women approached. After they went through the door we all went back to our separate seats and didn’t talk about it… we were strangers, gathering to solve something.

“It occurred to me that a circle of women, with a mission, can save the world. I will never forget that moment.”

The Facebook post struck a chord with social media users across the globe after it was first shard last Friday.

Since then, it has been liked more than 40,000 times and gotten more than 12,000 shares.