The airport and kids

Anyone with kids realizes that travel takes a lot of preparation.
Especially if you have kids.
Prep prep prep
Parents also have to have a certain amount of resilience and tons of patience.
I have traveled with my kids for the last 14 years and as challenging as it could have been, I consider myself organized and proactive. I anticipate almost every obstacle before it even thinks about popping up. I pride myself on being prepared for any kid challenge that might show up. I realize that my priorities are in line with my children being happy, but I don't over think preparing because my kids need it so much, as I also have the thought of other travelers in mind. If my kids are whining everyone suffers.
So, needless to say after successfully carting kids around the world for years and nurturing proficient young travelers of my own, I was shocked yesterday to see (not a single mom, but a mom and dad team) a family with 2 small children (ages 4 and 7) completely out of control.
Dad had mistakenly (giving him the benefit of the doubt) booked his ticket for the day they were traveling and booked the mom and the two children on the following day's flight.
Hahaha haaa
You will indeed think this is funny when the details follow.
The mom brings the two children to the waiting area to wait for dad to work out the details. Can they be re-booked for today? Can dad wait until tomorrow? Will the children be able to sit for 8-10 minutes without setting the airport afire and stabbing each other in their constant display of inability to behave for any length of time whatsoever.
The smaller child continually taunts the older child until the older child moves seat...to which the small child follows to taunt further. The mom at this point grabs the arm of the smaller child and shoves him into the seat from which he just arrived. The older child begins to whine, "what will we do, how will we get home, I wanna go home", to which the mom responds, in a similar whiny tone, "I don't know what we're gonna do", as if they were stranded on a desert island with no food, covered in zsi zsi flies, and cannibals were hot on their trail.
The father saunters over with their caravan of baggage from their 1 week vacation, 2 states over, and states the facts, "it will cost $205 dollars to change their tickets, or they will have to wait until tomorrow". $205 dollars? cha ching, this sounds like nothing for a family of four, and I'm broke.
On the other hand, big deal, wait until tomorrow. A hotel room is $50 bucks, suck it up - these kids don't have to be anywhere.
But, these are things rational people think. What happened is this:
The mom puts her head in her hands and begins to weep. One seat over mind you. I'm almost in her purse, we're so close. She begins to cry out, "I can't travel with the kids alone". To which dad responds, "I have to go to work". To which the kids begin to torture one another relentlessly, while the businessman on the other side of them begins to wriggle in his seat.
Now, I'm thinking, "what the hell is going on here"?
Then, one of the kids wanders about 5 feet from where they are sitting and the mom leaps up grabs him by he arm, marches him back to the seat, and he begins to scream. At which point dad, pinches, pokes, something physical quietly, and tells him to be quiet. Then the kids starts wailing even more. Now mom holds her hand over the mouth of the child demanding he be silent.
The entire family is an emotional mess.
The whole while, the older child making comments on the behavior of the younger one as if he was so above the antics he was, in fact, participating in passively.
The older child starts shouting, "what are we gonna do, what are we gonna do".
Dad makes a phone call to have the family picked up by grandparents...yes, they have family...still in the airport area. Then quietly says to mom, "can you travel alone with the kids"? To which she gets a stiff upper chin and says in the most passive aggressive voice I have ever actually heard outloud, "I will travel alone with them, you have to work, and we can't do without". Imagine Eeyore.
I could have vomited on the spot. It was the worst piece of drama I've ever seen - from tears to stiff upper lip in 45 seconds, with a spot of violent outrage sandwiched in between.
And from such an average looking family.
They didn't look like drama.
I caught the glance of the businessman on the other side of this theatrical mess looking at me, and I refused to make eye contact for fear of my reaction. This wasn't funny, it was pathetic and crazy, but so outrageous, it was difficult to have a rational reaction.

After they moseyed away it occurred to me this was probably a well oiled plot by dad to ditch this craziness and escape.