Someone mentioned a zone for parents and children in an earlier post.
I have this covered, folks. I have had plenty of time to think it through carefully as I fly backwards and forwards to New Zealand with offspring in order to allow DH to show off his children to his family (note to self - should marriage go belly up, the next one should be from the same hemisphere as me to make visiting in-laws a bit less complicated).
When I win the lottery (the proper amounts, not the measly four or five million!), every time we fly to said Antipodean country, the following will happen:
I will book all of First and Business classes, well ahead of time, on all flights I am on.
The airline will secretly upgrade all families into those seats (obviously there may be more families than seats in which case the youngest children will be given priority, but it will extend right up to teens should there be enough seats).
Priority treatment will start in the departure lounge which will now be full of children but which will have been pre-stocked with toys, books etc, and appropriate snacks. Children will be safely contained (should the parent wish them to be!) rather than running round the departure lounge, and have plenty to do, which will help stress levels. There will also be two or three paid nannies on hand - they will be able to keep an eye on children while parents wander off to shop should they want to.
Once on the flight, the families will have more space. You will be in a big chair so if your small person insists on sitting on your lap you still have breathing space, and there is a bit more space generally so the children can wander round a bit. Serving area will be stocked with stuff suitable for children as well as extra toys and games. Chairs recline enough to allow proper little beds to be made for children. Still trying to work out if a nanny would be a good addition once on the flight to allow a parent to, say, go to the loo, leaving child in seat but not needing to wake second parent who may be shattered after dealing with a non-sleeping excited child the night before....
This will be all at no extra cost to the families.
No-one will make nasty comments about shutting your child up because everyone will be delighted to be in seats where you have space, and where you don't spend the entire time stressing about whether your child just breathed on the seat in front and annoyed it's occupant. Your children will have other kids around to play with, should they wish to.
DH and I dream of it every time we shuttle our child (now children) down to economy to begin the 24 hours in a confined space with them and a handful of strangers...!!