I step on board and head down the aisle. All eyes are on me. Is it my hair? Is it my awesome mismatched outfit?
No.
We just boarded a plane with a 4 year old leading the way and an 18 month old on my hip. The diaper bag, the bag of toys, and the lunch bag full of snacks are somehow hanging on me too. People stare me down. I stare back. We all know that I have the power to make or break this 3 hour plus flight.
If I travel alone, I am quick to call out that I am the pilot’s nanny and these are his kids. This way, no one will mess with me if they completely melt down. However, hubby is traveling on this one with us. For a man who is almost weekly on planes for work, we are really cramping his travel style.
We take our seats. The 4 year old gets his own and the ipad. We don’t have to worry about him much at this point or so we think. Our attention turns to baby girl who will be sitting on our laps for the duration of this flight.
I seriously think she saw the fear in our eyes as she let out this crazy laugh.
We pulled out a couple of toys and watched them fly across our chairs. The crayons and coloring books came out next but she started to eat the crayons. Then, she managed to stretch out so that she could kick the back of the seat in front of her. Hubby and I broke out in sweat and we hadn’t even taken off yet.
At this time, the 4 year old decided he wanted attention too. He also seemed to want to play 20 questions.
- When are we taking off?
- What plane is this?
- What time is it?
- What day is it we are leaving on?
Sidenote: My kids make the strangest faces sometimes!
We were all going to lose our minds.
The plane started to pick up speed and baby girl decided since it had gotten so noisy that she better get louder too. Let the fun really begin now.
We broke out the special snacks that we brought. Ahhhhh peace and quiet! It just didn’t last long.
Ten minutes later, we were debating whether or not to buy the people around us drinks because our kids who are normally crazy just got crazier.
Baby girl didn’t want to be on our laps anymore. The 4 year old didn’t understand why we didn’t have Oreos for him. People across the aisle were putting their headphones on.
So, we decided to put on a show. We sang the ABC song…fifty times. Maybe more. Baby girl loved it and tried to sing along. The 4 year old decided that we were not cut out for American Idol and went back to his Ipad. One down.
Then, she decided to honk our noses for the next half hour and laugh hysterically. It was ridiculous taken to a new level but it was entertaining.
We settled into this routine of singing and playing peekaboo for the rest of the flight. When we landed, we got off. We never thought in our vows of for better or worse that these would be the trying times. Our clothes were disheveled, leftover snacks clinging to us, and kids whining about food, but we got through it. We can handle anything!
Maybe next time, we will even book first class.
Have you traveled with kids under pressure? Share your experience! Be sure to like 40 Wishes and Counting on Facebook and share with friends.
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