I apologize for typos. In a car, it's late, and I am on my phone. Let's be honest, I can't spell either.
I wanted to write down my plane tips before I forget!
A few months back I got an invitation to a dear friends wedding. Haven't seen Heather in 3 years! And before that, the last time was when she came to my husband and I's wedding. We always said we would make the trip through several states to her wedding.
So, we started planning. My due date was barely 3 weeks before her wedding date.
I started to panick.
Big fancy wedding - toddler and new born.
MOM!!!!
That's right, I asked my mom to come to babysit. Her offer to help watch the boys turned into a full blown family vacation.
Here's the plan:
My husband and brother in law drove our parents van through five states, over night, in one day to meet myself, my two boys, sister, her two boys, and our parents at the airport.
Yup - four adults and four boys three and under on a plane.
Here's the fun part - I just had a c-section a month ago. My mom had surgery on her wrist three weeks ago. My dad has a bad hip from an old army injury. And My sister ..... Well thank goodness she can chase a kid.
We made it in one piece.
We had to drive two hours to the airport. No big deal - all of our kiddos are good travelers.
BUT .... IT WAS.... NAP TIME.
TIP NUMBER 1:
{Don't travel if possible at nap time.}
We got to the airport.
Melt down one - 10 yards from our parked vehicles, Gideon (3.4 years old) didn't want to get on the carriage/golf cart but wanted to be carried the quarter of a mile.
Melt down two - inside the entrance of the airport. Seth (2.4 years old) was sad and having a tough time.
Melt down three - at security. Gideon refused to go through the line. Like where your boarding pass is checked. You could tell who had kids and who was irritated.
Melt down four - Gideon didn't want to go through melt detector. Finally I had a small little talk with him and we figured out that crying was not helping the situation.
Melt down five - Aunt Amanda was trying to carry a stroller and two boys. Ok she didn't melt down but WE WERE ALL FRAZZLED.
We were all tired. To say the least, naps are important.
TIP NUMBER 2:
{pack light}
We did not (thankfully) have any checked luggage ...the reason the daddies drove red-eyed. We did have several small personal bags. So six backpacks!
We didn't need it. I had enough formula for like two days. NOT NECESSARY!
The security staff will want all prepackaged and powder formula out to check. Like, all of it. Seriously. I was digging and rearranging to make sure we were good. And they still pulled me aside to swipe my hands.
The older boys mainly were interested in their refurbished parent phones to play on. I honestly, if packed smarter, could have carried my wallet and the boys supplies in one bag.
HOWEVER, I only have one child in diapers while my sister has two boys (but she is breastfeeding so didn't have the formula/bottle dilemma). My mom also packed more snacks than we did.
TIP NUMBER 3:
{drop the schedule - be flexible}
I love. Really love. I thrive on schedules. Flexible is not a descriptive word for me, in any way. I am a bit controlling. But I had to not worry so much about the clock. I always want to make sure my kids are fed and happy. But i was feeding Soren in two hour intervals instead of three or four so he was nice and full. I fed him about two hours before our departure thinking he might need to eat again with take off and then again at landing. He slept through take off and a little into the flight, was getting fussy, so he ate and used his pacifier and slept through the landing. Not my plan at all. But it worked.
TIP NUMBER 4:
{prep and plan a little}
Obviously I just said drop the schedule but doesn't mean you can't plan. My mom had easy snacks for the older boys. I made a bottle for take off and landing so I could easily grab it and not have to worry about combing ingredients/spilling everything. If you slow down and think and try to anticipate your families needs it will hopefully help.
TIP NUMBER 5:
{Smile}
No matter what. Smile. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy the dirty looks from those watching your toddler scream through security. Enjoy the "eww baby" comments (I counted, that I can remember, 12 people comment on how little Soren is). Enjoy the "you have a wild man" comments. Enjoy the excitement from flying with little ones. Enjoy the blessing that you get to spend time with friends and family together. So smile!
Well that's it.
Waiting!! We took the older boys for a walk.
Smile!!!
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