Keeping young children entertained on a long flight can be a real headache for parents, and it's not uncommon for kids to get restless and throw tantrums when they get bored of sitting still for hours on end.
But one woman has split opinion after she put her foot down and refused to let her five-year-old niece use her iPad to watch cartoons while on a plane - because she needed it to do work.
The woman explained she was travelling with her sister and her niece for a memorial for her late grandfather, and things went smoothly at first, with the little girl being more than happy to watch cartoons on her mum's phone.
Unfortunately, the mum's phone ran out of battery while they were still waiting to board and wouldn't charge, so the woman allowed her niece to use her own phone.
But when they boarded the plane, the woman, who is from the US, said she wouldn't let her niece use her phone or her iPad because they wouldn't be sitting together and handing over her tech made her uncomfortable.
In a post on Reddit, she said: "My grandfather passed away a few months ago, but my family had planned a date most convenient for everyone to have a memorial and spread his ashes. That date was this Saturday.
"Several of us live in a different state, so we had to fly in. My sister didn't want to fly alone because she thought it would be hard to handle her daughter and their luggage. I'll add here that my niece is autistic and can be difficult at times. One of the things she does is wander or run off. So, she booked tickets for her and her 5-year-old daughter on the same flight as me so I could handle the luggage.
"On Friday morning we went to the airport together. All thought security and while waiting in the boarding area my sister was entertaining her daughter with her phone. The phone ran out of power, so my sister tried charging it in one of the airport outlets. It didn't work though. We only had a little longer till boarding so I let my niece watch cartoons on my phone.
"Then they started to call people for business class (where my seat was) so I got ready to board. My niece started to get upset. My sister asked to borrow my phone for the flight to entertain her daughter. I have private things on my phone though and letting them use it where I could not see made me uncomfortable.
"She then asked about borrowing my iPad. While I don't have much private information on my iPad I had work I needed to get done and had planned on using it to do work during the flight so I wouldn't get behind."
Once the woman was settled in her seat, her sister once again approached her and asked her for the iPad, but she stood her ground and said no - leaving the little girl with no entertainment for the flight.
She added: "After the flight, my sister looked stressed out and was very mad at me because her daughter had several outbursts and was very hard to deal with on the flight. I didn't notice because I had my headphones on the whole time.
"The relatives that picked us up noticed my sister was upset and asked what was wrong. My sister explained the situation and put the blame on me. I explained my side of it. They said it wasn't cool, that I should have helped my sister out, and that I probably made the flight worse for everyone."
Commenters on the post were largely on the woman's side, as many of them said it was up to her sister to bring enough things to entertain her daughter for the entire flight - as well as backup options if something went wrong.
One person said: "Your sister should have had a backup plan for her daughter. You don't need to be the backup plan."
While another added: "Travelling with kids is hard. Screens make it easier. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that kids are entitled to the screens of other people. Your sister was within her rights to ask you to lend, and you were within your rights to say no."
And a third posted: "The child is not entitled to your phone. Your sister could have bought an activity to keep her entertained. No is a complete sentence."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at yourmirror@trinitymirror.com.
