Mom boards plane with her two kids, unprepared for sudden realization

A mom thought she had reached the pinnacle of motherhood when her two young daughters handed their own tickets to a flight attendant.

But once they had boarded the plane, Heidi Aune (@heidiannehan) was caught off guard by a sudden realization that her youngest was more independent than she ever expected.

“My two-year-old has always been a bit more hesitant to do things on her own, so when she handed her ticket to the airline attendant, I was so proud of her,” Aune told Newsweek.

Aune and her husband Coy were traveling to Austin, Texas, with their two children, four and two at the time. At six months pregnant with their third child, she was already juggling the challenges of flying with young kids.

The mom of two explained that she always tries to instill independence in her children, and when she saw how they had handled their own tickets, she thought that was the highlight of the trip.

That was until her two-year-old asked for more apple juice. By then, the flight attendants had already completed the drink service, so she said she could have it only if she asked for it herself.

“I didn’t think she would go on her own,” Aune said. “But to my surprise, she climbed out of the seat and walked back.”

Realizing that she was heading in the direction of the stewardess, Aune started recording on her phone, giving her daughter an encouraging thumbs-up from her seat. Moments later, it was mission complete.

“I could tell how proud of herself she was. It’s little confidence-building moments like these that give my girls the foundation to do more on their own,” she said.

Aune’s reel clocked up over 9 million views and received 388,000 likes. Hundreds of users commented on the reel who were impressed by the girl’s independence.

“You’re raising children to have confidence talking to strangers and speaking up for themselves,” one user said.

“How I wish I was raised like that, but I grew out of it eventually,” a second wrote.

While the response was encouraging for Aune to see, she was surprised to read how many users are fearful to do something like this in their adult lives, “because they were never taught how to do this at a young age,” she said.

Many others noticed how the flight attendant even watered down the apple juice (meaning less sugar for the toddler) and wiped the bottle for the little one.

“I’ve loved how people are praising the Southwest stewardess who was so kind to my daughter,” Aune added.

Southwest Airlines, which the couple were traveling with, even spotted the viral reel and commented, “We love supporting strong independent women.”