We fly a lot. And while we're getting pretty good at flying with young children (and our kids pretty much rock at it), there are those times when you reflect on the bad moments and appreciate the good. This post is a result of some ups and downs on our last journey to Kathmandu from the states, one that took 57.5 hours, a 16 hour flight leg, 1 missed flight, 1 night in the airport, and 7 pieces of luggage that didn't arrive with us. I give you my musings on the good, bad, and ugly of flying (with kids in particular):
The good is
sleeping children.
It’s an empty seat next to you.
It’s a lounge with good food, a playroom, and showers.
It’s airport seating that doesn’t have an armrest between
each seat preventing you from laying down.
It’s an outlet near a comfortable seat.
It’s a USB charging plug on the plane.
It’s an in-flight children’s meal.
It’s the stewards and stewardesses that love babies and kids
(and will entertain them for awhile, even hold them while you go to the
bathroom!).
It’s an upgrade.
It’s flying without children when you regularly fly with
children.
It’s getting comments at the end of a flight saying how well
your children did (all that work – packing snacks and entertainment, constantly
supplying those said snacks and entertainment, monitoring seat kicking and
volume of speaking, and special privileges [ipad for hours at a time, sure!]
and wonky sleep schedules you’ll later have to cope with – paid off).
It’s being met at the gate by family or friends.
The bad is being awake at 3am in the airport trying to sleep on tile floor next to your toddler in case he wakes up and tries to wander off.
It’s airplane food.
It's a baby that won't sleep.
It's flying pregnant.
It’s a pen exploded in your bag.
It’s trying to sleep on the tray table in a desperate
attempt to get comfortable.
It’s overnight delays.
It’s lugging around too much carry-on luggage (packing a
diaper bag for 30 hours of travel requires a LOT of stuff!).
It’s sitting under an overhead compartment when someone is trying
to put a piece of luggage that is too big.
It’s a baby on your lap and no room to put your tray down to eat.
It’s a seat that won’t recline.
It's luggage overages.
It’s a budget airline flight.
It’s headphone jacks that require the silly 2 or 3 prong
headphone plugs so you have to use the airline headphones.
The ugly is
waking up realizing you either: drooled or were in your neighbor’s space… or
worse – both.
It’s being the neighbor.
It’s the Kathmandu airport bathrooms.
It’s when that crying baby is your own.
It’s dealing with a child who has to pee “really really
bad” right when the seatbelt sign goes
off after the plane has landed (you know that moment, when everyone instantly
jumps up and gets their bags down as if they might not make it off the plane if
they don’t).
It’s coping with upset stomachs and the inevitable
traveller’s diarrhea. That line for the
bathroom after a meal has been served is a nightmare.
It’s being the only woman on a flight.
It’s the vomit bag and needing to use it.
It’s sitting next to (behind, kitty corner, in the general vicinity of) a person who needs to use the vomit bag.
Here's to hoping your next flight has more of the good than the bad and none of the ugly.
Here's to hoping your next flight has more of the good than the bad and none of the ugly.
I agree with every point on your list, Allison. To the bad, I can add: having the little one pee through her diaper and on to your pants while waiting at the airport, when you didn't pack any extra pants in your carry-on....or when the big one drops an entire cup of mango juice in your lap, and you, again, have forgotten to pack extra pants in your carry-on (the solution was talking the four-year old in to giving up her stretchy skirt and then accepting looking like a dork for the next 4 hours).
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