If you've traveled with children, you know it can be challenging. What if you have a toddler? It's crazy. Going on vacation with a toddler (or children) is never really a vacation, am I right? This traveling mother from the UK had a 10-month-old daughter. She needed a break — being a new mom is hard — but her story went viral.
Ellis left her young daughter with her boyfriend in economy class while she was able to fly in business class. The flight was an 11-hour flight from Paris to Los Angeles, and boy, did people have feelings for it. She posted a video about it on her TikTok in which she asked her 22.5k followers, “What would you do?” She also said that this was her only chance to fly without a baby, so she took it.
Ellis opened her video and explained that she and her boyfriend spend money on different things. While she would absolutely spend the money on business class flights and jewelry, he prefers to spend money on food and finds it “pointless” to spend money on business class.
She continued: “I have never flown with anyone else while I have flown with Prim, her daughter. So the idea of having help on this flight was great.”
The duration of the flight was 11 hours, she said, and the thought of being able to fly without a baby during those 11 hours was “music to her ears.”
“Long-haul flights with a baby are not easy,” she said. Ellis had shared videos of her solo flight with Prim on her account in the past and talked about how difficult it was.
Ellis added in her video that her boyfriend had never flown with the baby before and he wanted to take the opportunity and really fly with her, so she said, “You know what, that's totally fine with me, me.” See you in 11 hours, baby.”
She continued with her video in which she showed off all the luxuries she enjoyed in first class and said that although there were free seats in business class, they didn't want to pay for them because she had to pay for her 10 would have to pay for a ticket with a full seat -months old and the airline wanted “thousands and thousands of dollars.” Ellis did offer to pay for her boyfriend to sit in business class with Prim on his lap, but because she had to pay for an extra seat for her baby, that wasn't an option.
“It was so refreshing to have a nice, relaxing flight without kids, especially since I had the worst sleep ever the night before,” Ellis said. “I had a great nap on the plane,” she said. Ellis then documented how she had the opportunity to brush her hair and freshen up and clean herself after a long flight.
At the end of the video, she said her family told her she was a terrible mother and they couldn't believe she did that – in jest.
Most of the people in the comments were on team “Mom is taking a break.”
“I love it. If the shoe was on the other foot the dad wouldn't get hate,” said one viewer.
“Mothers need a break too!!! If you're caring for a baby full-time, it's okay to take a few hours to relax. She’s having a spa day, leave her alone,” said another.
And a sweet angel of a father commented: “I have three children and if I had been offered a trip in business or first class, I would have still sent my wife. “My wife deserves everything.”
“You spent SO MUCH time dealing with the baby alone, I think you definitely deserve this!” said another supporter.
However, not everyone was on Ellis' side. Some of the comments that were inconsistent were mothers saying, “That they could never do it.”
“Wow, I raised six wonderful boys and I would never do that,” said one mother.
Another viewer commented: “If you don't want to travel with your baby, leave him with your family. Is your boyfriend the father? As a mother, I would never travel without my child. Especially a toddler…”
“Yes, you are the definition of 'entitled.' Are you really a mother???” said another angry viewer.
Although most of the comments on her video were positive, the video went viral for a reason. Why is it so unusual for a mother to have fun on a flight while the other parent looks after the baby alone? Should mothers never be able to enjoy time alone, even when their partner is present and willing to take on the burden? I guess it makes us entitled and not a “real mom” to take a break sometimes.