I definitely can see how that would be annoying, but not enough to kick them off the plane. Of course, there are only a handful of people who know the complete story. IF what is in the article posted is the complete truth, I do believe the flight attendant was completely out of line.

Even if there is something going on with a child that is highly annoying or disruptive, the things the attendant was quoted as saying are ridiculous and completely inappropriate. There are many other, more acceptable, ways to ask someone to do something about a disruptive child. Again, IF those things did come out of the attendant's mouth, she needs to revisit the term TACT.

As for people who think their child's crap doesn't stink or that they can do no wrong (and, Richard, I work in grocery, I see that ALL THE TIME, it is very sad to think about the kinds of adults those children will turn out to be), I don't feel that it applies in this particular situation. The mother may have been more understanding about her child's annoying behavior's effect on the pleasantness of the flight if the attendant had approached her differently. Telling anyone to shut up or to shut their child up is not a peaceful approach to any situation. That phrase is almost always used in frustration and rarely leads to any good compromise or solution.

Ok, I'm shutting up, now.