Flying over here

I was thinking today about my flight over to Houston. I got on the plane in Portland and shuffled to row 21F and almost freaked when i saw who i was supposed to sit by for 2 and a half hours; it was a single mom with a 4 year old boy (in the middle seat) and an 18 month old little girl (on her lap). Immediately i had visions of crying and squirming. I sat down and said hi to the little boy next to me, and he very politely told me his name and informed me that he was flying back home after being in a wedding. We 'chatted' for a little bit, with his mother filling in the gaps as he went. He proceeded to ask me to read him the signs on the back of the tray table, at which his mom encouraged him to read it himself (he was learning to read). She helped him with the difficult words, but not by just giving them to him, but making him sound them out and she didn't allow him to guess at the word. The little girl was very cute and would smile really wide when you looked at her and said stuff. Through the flight i chatted with the mom (Nicole) and she gave me a bit of her background - where she was from originally, where she lived now, what her husband did, etc. She was a wonderful person, very easy to talk to - she was also quite pretty. I really have a lot of respect for her - taking two young kids on a trip like that could not have been easy. I was also very impressed with her handling of both the kids, she was kind and loving, but she also stuck to what she said and her children obeyed her. I knew just from how the kids responded to me that they were in a good home where they were loved and respected. It was a breath of fresh air ... i'll probably never see them again, but i hope they know that i noticed them and i was encouraged by them.