A viral TikTok recently captured what thousands of parents do in secret: A father intently tracking his adult son’s flight on his computer screen. The daughter who posted it wrote, “My dad’s green flag is when any of his kids are on a plane, he spends the day tracking it.” The video has resonated with parents everywhere, racking up over 800,000 views and thousands of comments from fellow flight-tracking parents.
I couldn’t help but smile in recognition. That’s me, refreshing my flight tracker app every few minutes when my college-aged son is in the air.
But our journey to this point started long ago. I still remember the day my son flew solo to visit his grandfather in Florida when he was in 5th grade. He was so proud of himself, strutting through the airport with his little backpack and the airline’s special “Unaccompanied Minor” badge. This was back before you could track flights with a simple app—all he had was a flip phone and a GPS bracelet provided by the airline.
The special video game room he got to wait out his layover in was something he talked about for years afterward. “Mom, they had ALL the games, and I could play as much as I wanted!” I spent that entire day anxious, waiting for check-in calls from airline staff and his eventual “I made it, Mom!” from Grandpa’s phone.
Fast forward to college, and now these flights are routine. Four times a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, and summer. Back and forth like clockwork, each trip a small reminder that he exists in a world separate from mine now.
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The digital waiting room
These days, like the dad in that viral TikTok, I’ve become an amateur flight tracker. The moment my son texts “boarding now,” I open my laptop and pull up his flight path, watching that little airplane icon inch its way across the screen.
“It’s only an hour and twenty minutes,” I tell myself. “Not even long enough to worry.”
Yet there I am, calculating his arrival time, checking weather patterns, and mentally willing that plane to stay perfectly on course. I watch the altitude numbers climb to cruising height and feel a tiny exhale when they begin their predictable descent.
Parents everywhere are flight stalkers (and proud of it)
As the viral TikTok showed, I’m not alone in this particular brand of parental surveillance. The comments section of that video erupted with similar stories from families around the world.
“That’s my Dad. And I’m a Flight attendant 🥲✈️,” wrote @MaríaMercedes, proving that even aviation professionals aren’t exempt from parental monitoring.
Another parent, @NurseDad_of_2, confessed: “And we text you to tell you that your plane has landed.” (Guilty as charged—I’ve sent that exact text more times than I’d like to admit.)
It seems mothers are equally vigilant. As @ChloeMelissa shared: “I travel a lot for work. My mama does the exact same thing! She messages right as I land as well with a ‘you’re back!!’ message 💞.“
Some take the tracking updates to impressive levels. “@HueyLewis wrote: “My Dad does this too! Reports updates to the family wattsapp every hour or so. Takeoff, what country the plane is over and landings 👏😂.”
The last thread of parental control
What is it about flight tracking that feels so necessary? Perhaps it’s the last vestige of control we have as parents of adult children. We can’t check if they’ve eaten vegetables or remind them to wear a coat, but we can watch that little digital airplane complete its journey safely.
I sometimes wonder if my son finds it endearing or invasive. When I mentioned my tracking habit during a recent phone call, he just laughed. He gets it.
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From GPS bracelet to fully independent adult
And that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? The years may be short, but parenthood is long. My son may be legally an adult who navigates college courses, rental agreements, and international flights on his own, but part of me still sees that fifth-grader with his special airline badge, so proud to be flying “all by himself” (with airline staff checking on him every 20 minutes).
It didn’t happen overnight, this transformation from dependent child to independent adult. But sometimes it feels like it did. That special video game room feels like just yesterday, yet here he is, fully on his own.
So yes, I track his flights. And I probably always will. Because while he’s soaring toward his own future, that invisible thread between us remains—a little stretched perhaps, but unbroken.
When that plane icon finally reaches its destination on my screen, I send my text. Simple, brief acknowledgment that he’s arrived safely. And honestly? I think we’re both okay with that.
