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Tips on a plane
Filed under: Just For Moms, Toddlers Preschoolers, Places To Go
My reality dictates that I must travel with Nolan in a plane at least once every two months. It's only a short flight we must take -- less than an hour -- but nonetheless, about a week before the bi-monthly trip, I start stressing out, just a little. I envision a very patient, grandmotherly woman sitting next to us, eager to assist with Nolan's crazy mood swings and boundless energy. I google "surviving plane trips" and "how to make a toddler do what I say, just for an hour. Please."This time, I've hit pay dirt. The Times Online has published an excellent article summarizing the top 10 questions parents as about travelling with a children. It includes everything from pre-boarding tips to an organized collection of online resources for travel with kids to the very best of travel games. I particularly like that last category, because Nolan's dinky cars only provide room for so much fun until he starts wanting to insert them into the pockets of those around us. I discovered two new toys on the list I'd like to acquire stat: a Crayola Portable Lapdesk (for colouring in bumpy conditions) and a 20 Questions game, which uses artificial intelligence and kid's curiousity and might possibly save my life.
Now I'm off to google "how to best passive-aggressively irritate the woman who reclines in the seat in front of me." I will let you know what I discover.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
2-11-2008 @ 2:32PM
crabmommy said...Ladies, I really hate to point you to this horror story link about my 60-hour odyssey from Africa to Wyoming with my 3-yr-old but hopefully it will give you a laugh. Or make you think twice about United Airlines. Although heck, they are all equally evil:
http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/crabmommy/2008/02/frequent-flyers.html
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1-21-2008 @ 8:34AM
K. said...If you want to make things difficult for yourself that is your prerogative, but I still advocate politely letting her know that you´re being inconvenienced as a preferrable tactic. As I said, most people are basically nice and don´t set out to be a bother to their surroundings.
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1-21-2008 @ 8:37AM
ninainindia said...You admit Nolan is not an easy traveler on a plane. He is therefore most likely disturbing the people around you.
Why would you feel the need to add to the inconvenience your son is causing other travelers on purpose.
Nolan might not know better, but you do. As the adult you should give the good example and treat the people around you nicely. Reclining a seat that is made to recline a couple of inches does not make one a horrible person.
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1-21-2008 @ 10:14AM
Mel said...Wow, some people are hysterical. Of all the things to concern oneself with, is an hour on a plane really so bad? While flying is certainly not a hobby of mine, it's also neither tramautic nor upsetting. At most, it's inconvenient, what with security checks and delays and turbulence. Some people apparently cannot handle life.
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1-21-2008 @ 10:16AM
Kristin said...Oh, people. I was KIDDING!
Most people in real life actually like Nolan and I. We won't bother anyone and I'm sure we'll have a decent trip.
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1-21-2008 @ 6:45PM
K. said...There is a difference between "just kidding" and "using irony to ridicule someone elses statement". It was perfectly obvious that you weren´t serious, and had it been but a jest, I wouldn´t´ve responded as I did, but since you felt a need to highlight and make fun of my comment (the "passive-aggressive" part of which was directed at the person encouraging letting your child kick the seat as retaliation, not you), I felt a need to clarify my stance.
I´ve no doubt that you and Nolan are both delightful to be around, and that´s why I wanted to implore you to let someone know when they´re doing something that bothers you. A person who has never felt bothered by a reclined seat really has no reason to suspect that their reclined seat is causing you misery, and would probably feel awful if they knew that they had been causing problems that could´ve been avoided for a lady flying alone with a toddler, something that generates enough troubles all by itself :)
1-21-2008 @ 11:22AM
aprilw said...Why do people come on here if they get so irritated by the posts? I fail to understand the purpose of some of these comments. I usually just ignore it, but I just wanted to voice my feeling this time to support you Kirsten.
As for travelling - well! My kids and I are seasoned flyers. We go on several international LONG flights a year. Me on my own with two kids (4 and 2 now).
We've been doing it for years and here is what I have learned:
-Some people are a-holes. Your kid can be delightful and some crazy old lady can sit next to you and complain 7 hours into the flight that your child is "biting on that fruit rollup to loudly!" (That really happened. She also shouted at the flight attendants repeatedly until they brought her food from business class.) While I make sure my kids behave on flight, when I encounter people like this I just end up almost ignoring them if they are being unreasonable. Repeat with me YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN. Worrying about what a-holes like this think is not worth your trouble.
(Equally there are lovely people on flights. I didn't want to miss that out!)
- Same with crying babies. You know what, small kids and babies have just as much right as anyone to be in a plane. And to all you folks who give evil looks to a crying baby on a plane, whether you have kids or not YOU WERE A DROOLING CRYING POOPY MESS at one time too. Stop being so mean to a poor mother of a sobbing kid on a plane. She knows you hate her, she knows you wish she'd fall out the emergency exit. Be prepared and bring some earplugs on the plane if it bothers you that much. If you are the mother of a baby on a plane, again, just repeat to yourself "I will never see these people again." It is surprising but it really helps you get through the situation.
BREASTFEED - for babies if you can continue breastfeeding your baby it really is good for travelling. Carting around liquids through security can be hard, and also being able to breastfeed on demand really cuts any crying out on the plane. If you get any funny looks just say "Would you rather I let him cry the rest of the flight?"
DVD player - THE BEST THING EVER. For young kids this is so helpful on a flight. We bought one of those little DVD players cheap a year ago and it has made such a difference. We take some DVD's and it really helps kill the time without them getting too bored. We only use it for flights too so it is a novelty. I guess you could use a laptop for this too, but I don't tend to take a computer on these trips with me.
I also bought my older son (4) a used Gameboy Advance last year for very cheap. We got some easy games, including Candy Land, Memory and some character games (like Nemo) also very cheap. Again, so far we really just use it on trips, but he loves it and it kills some time.
Use the same route if you can - Even if I see another airline offer a slightly cheaper route through another city I stick with the same route. Mostly for myself. I know the airport layouts, I know what to expect in customs immigration, I know where the restaurant in the airport we have that layover is that is child friendly and serves REAL FOOD... It just takes away some stress and anything that lowers stress when travelling alone (or not alone!) with children is a good thing.
Magnetic Scribblers - Another great time time killer, especially for a 2 year old, is one of those draw and erase boards. Both my kids love these on flights, but they are more fun for them on the trip if you hide them away for a while before if they already have one. :)
Because I have more than one flight and a layover I also usually get the kids a small toy in a gift shop on our wait. Last time they both chose small metal planes in a Smithsonian gift shop in the airport and they had a great time playing with them while we waited. In my experience newness is a good thing in this case.
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1-21-2008 @ 12:04PM
Joy said...Kristin, I also knew you were joking around. I guess nobody has a sense of humor this morning. I was going to give you pretty much the same advice that Aprilw did. The DVD is the best in my opinion. Mostly because you and Nolan don’t watch much TV. It will be so new to him, it will occupy him. That crayola desk is awesome and my little guys love it. I also like flash cards, search for numbers and things like that but they aren’t always very quiet. But a good movie, he’ll love that. And your only under an hour. I would also agree with Aprilw that whatever you decide to bring, put away for a while before you go if he plays with it much. Anything “seeming” new, will bring him more pleasure. I’m an “old lady” and would love you and Nolan sitting next to me.
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1-21-2008 @ 1:01PM
aprilw said...Joy - I don't know you in real life, but I have never thought of you as an "Old Lady" ;)
I have had some great people sitting next to me too, one "Older" lady comes to mind who was actually in front of us. We were on our final leg of the journey (it is only 1.5 hours long, but after the long flight it is often the worst time!).
My then three year old accidentally kicked the seat in front of him once. I was explaining to him how he had to be careful about his feet when the lady peered over her seat. I thought "Uh-oh", for a second - but she was wonderful. She played a game with him for ages through the seats and then gave him her national geographic so that he could look at the pictures of monkeys on it. I'll always remember her and how kind and helpful she was to us when we were on that last exhausted leg of our journey.
There are lots of nice people out there - there have been a few stinkers on flights (and acutally, most of them NOT old!) and it is actually a shame that they sometimes stick out in your mind first when thinking about things. That is one of the reasons I always try to mentally downplay these situations, thinking "I'll never see them again." They are not worth worrying about really. :)
1-21-2008 @ 1:20PM
Joy said...Thanks April. I was 50 in Dec. Some days I feel older than others. I was a young mother and hence, a young grandmother. I had my first grandchild at 43. I really, really enjoy my little ones. It’s really a shame that “older people” have that stigma of being crabby. I find myself much more patient and tolerant of little ones now than I did when I was younger. Maybe because now I’m not in such a hurry.
1-21-2008 @ 1:59PM
Jenn said...Wow, I knew you were kidding too....I thought it was pretty darn obvious! I guess written humour is beyond some people.
Anyway, thank you for that link! I'm about to take my two-year-old daughter to visit my parents by myself -- husband is staying at home. We'll be spending about 3 hours on planes, split into two flights, and I've been working hard to come up with stuff to keep her busy while also not loading me down with so much stuff I can't keep track of everything!
I'm bringing my laptop along, which is loaded with a couple of games for her, as well as some downloaded "movies" (Pixar shorts, mostly), and it has a DVD player. That may be all we need, but I'm coming prepared with other stuff too....a bunch of little boxes that nest inside each other, which I will put pretty and/or interesting things in. A set of cards, which she loves to take out and put back in its box. And one of those magnetic drawing toys, and a mini-etch-a-sketch (actually, the etch-a-sketch may be for me...those things were so cool!).
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1-21-2008 @ 9:03PM
Tamara said...Kristin - My son is 3 y 4 mo old and sometime in the last 6 months he started to handle sitting in church or sitting still and quiet when prepped to do so. He was previously very hard to take anywhere quiet (baptisms, funerals, speeches - anything quiet). My point is that Nolan will be getting to this age soon and you will likely be impressed with his growing maturity. I have enjoyed reading your posts for a long time and what you write hits home with my experiences. Keep it up!
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