Ah, I caught your attention, right? Doesn't every parent want the low down on how to make traveling with the littles perfect? The secret! Well, let me tell you, I wish I had the magical "how-to's" that will make me seem like the almighty life saver but sadly, I'm just a mom with a crazy terrible two toddler boy. Before heading off to our annual family vacation I would spend hours on Pinterest and Dr. Google looking for the answers that would make everything calm and lovely for our 2.5 hour plane ride down to Florida. Tirelessly I would make lists and post-its, and even find myself super gung-ho to potentially write a how-to blog to help other parents. Now, looking back on everything and playing that reel over in my head I realized that I am going to sound like the text book "bad parent."
You see, my son is extra special and extra feely. His feeling get hurt easily (he gets that from me) and he is very rambunctious and restless (also from me, yay!). So, at 2 years and 4 months (almost) old, I find that there's some things that just will not work for my baby. You see, Johnny boy doesn't like to sit down. He doesn't like to watch movies in their entirety. He gets bored almost instantly. He loves to yell. And he doesn't like to nap when I want him to, most of the time. So, what do I do?
For starters, I knew I had to bring his car seat on the plane. No ifs ands or buts about it.I know, it's heavy and a pain in the ass but so is a 40lb toddler who would end up on my lap! Otherwise he would be running around the airplane and tapping people on their heads thinking it was the most fun in the world. The next is I knew I needed to bring his blanket. His orange, plush, LARGE blanket that he has had since birth that he loves to the moon. I knew I needed to download MANY apps on my phone as well as Disney Junior on my phone (which did NOT work on the Wifi, awesome!). I knew I needed to have at least 3 movies for him to watch and get bored with (he watched 3 minutes of ONE movie, by the way). I knew I needed his favorite snacks and extra water and juice for the ride. I also knew I needed to bring a lot of patience and some Advil (for myself of course).
Well, the blanket thing worked out fantastic but he didn't nap once on the plane (there OR back). The app "Busy Shapes" has been a God-send for us! It not only keeps him busy for quite some time but it also helps with his fine motor skills; and the truth is, I am completely in awe at how well he plays the game. Download it, now! And some crayons and paper (which were given to us by a wonderful man who works for Southwest Airlines and happened to be the only thing I forgot!).
So, how was he? He was actually a little angel. My little crazy person was a wonderful little man. He didn't cry, he didn't get upset, he yelled maybe like 10 times (hey that's good!), and he really enjoyed looking out the window. All in all, don't drive yourself nuts over it. Shit is going to happen! Even though sometimes I wish that I had these "gurus" perfect little children and "amazing" ideas, I think I'm doing this parenting thing just fine without all the smoke and mirrors.
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