The kids and I just took an impromptu trip back to Wisconsin
for a family reunion. Light is a seasoned traveler and does really well with
the security procedures, all the waiting and is okay when he has to sit across
the aisle from me. Happiness is getting to be an expert at it too, although she
is not a big fan of the “blast off” as both of my kids have independently
coined the take-off.
Travelling alone with two small children requires a great
deal of endurance and patience. Most of all, though, it requires a sense of
humor and excellent problem solving skills. You must be prepared for things to
happen. Things like waiting in line to board the plane and your 2 year old
yells “I have to pooooop and I can’t wait!” Or as soon as said 2 year old falls
asleep on the plane, your 6 year old yells across the aisle “Mommy I have to
poop” (and it echoes through the entire cabin on the plane ‘poop poop poop poop’).
One might think that traveling with a 6 year old would be
the easy part and the 2 year old would be more challenging. The trouble with
that thinking happens when said 6 year old doesn’t want to sit alone in his
seat while I take Happiness to the bathroom and he won’t stand outside the
bathroom either. So, imagine 3 people crammed into the airplane potty. Talk
about space invaders!
And, poor Light. He always seems to come down with something
when we fly. So of course the day we are scheduled to leave, he gets a fever.
He’s a trooper, so with Advil in his system, we are on our way. He has the
chills on the plane and it’s super cold anyway on this particular flight. I
have him wrapped in blankets and he’s sipping his drink when “POW” Happiness
kicks and his iced drink spills ALL OVER HIS LAP!! Light has a scream like no other kid in the world. It is ear
piercing and intense. Everyone on the plane heard this one! Poor poor guy. It’s
uncomfortable to get spilled on in general, but with a fever and I have no
extra clothes for him, so it’s even worse! Time to get creative. Luckily he is
wearing underwear today. So, I take off his pants and turn his underwear on
backwards and tuck his t-shirt into the front of his pants. This way the wet
spot is at the front so he can sit on his bottom and the t-shirt is
semi-protecting his skin from the wet at the front. Then I wrapped a couple of
extra blankets around him. Lesson learned- Light will also travel with an extra
set of clothes in his carry-on from now on.
Happiness almost always sleeps for some part of the travel
day. It’s great except when she falls asleep with only 20 minutes left in the
flight because that means I have to carry her in the Ergo carrier, carry her
little back pack, my big backpack and usually Light’s backpack, especially if
we are in a hurry or we have to go super far between gates, which is almost
always.
Our flight home was quite turbulent much to the dismay of
Happiness and the pleasure of Light, who is quite interested in roller
coasters. This time at least he was yelling “Wheeee, it’s like a roller coaster
ride” instead of what he yelled 2 years ago when we experienced a similar level
of turbulence: “We’re gonna crash.” Remember how I mentioned before that he has
an ear-piercing scream? Yep, he can really yell and everyone around heard him
that time, too!
He is also of an age where he has started asking questions
about why everyone has to take their shoes off to go through security. Why is
their security anyway? Why can’t anyone walk with us right up to the gate? Why
can’t Grandma and Grandpa be waiting for us right when we get off the plane?
Why can’t we leave our bags sitting right here for a minute while we go look
out the window? Lots of questions that I wish I didn’t have to answer.
So after trying to nurse a 2.5 year old discreetly on an
airplane, wearing a fanny pack for easy access to essentials, trying to keep
little feet from kicking the seats in front of us, and the exhaustion of
entertaining two intense kiddos on our travel days, I am extending invitations
out to everyone to come visit us, please!
If you come here, I won’t have to explain to Light why we
have to fly to Wisconsin from California via Tennessee and then home to
California from Wisconsin via Detroit. Because he is absolutely correct when he
says “it makes no sense at all.”
