See... you're in that same place I was in before I got married and had a child. Children are egotistical little noisy monsters, scared of random things, and needy, needy, needy... I get it.

It's not the amount of exposure to kids, it's the relationship during said exposure, that forces empathy for those little monsters upon you, and your appreciation of your parents goes through the roof.

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As for blocking out the noise, industrial hearing protection is your friend. I'd go for the foamy things that expand inside your ears from 3M.[1]

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Also, you're in a recliner, flying through the air at 600 miles per hour, with your needs attended to by someone paid to do so... putting up with a temporary crying kid with a desperate parent trying to comfort them is waaaayyy better than walking. ;-)

[1] https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/ppe/hearing-protection/earpl...