No matter who you are-- superman or supermom or whatever, the truth of the matter is that traveling on planes with young children SUCKS. Unless you are one of the super lucky ones and your children fall asleep at any given moment in any given place...then plane rides are fun because you get peace and quiet, cuddles with a sleeping baby, and time to do nothing but read or watch movies (THAT sounds amazing by the way). But I am not one of those -- my children get all riled up and like to wreak havoc when they are being corralled into lines, small aisles and tight seats, but that is not the point. The point is, traveling with them is worth it...anyways.
This time around, I tried to be super prepared. We downloaded shows on the ipad and the iphone ahead of time, I prepped breakfast to have on the go the night before, I baked cookies to take with me, I packed A TON of snacks, crayons, coloring books, cars and small toys. And yes, that all helped somewhat-- my 4.5 year old could stay occupied with the coloring and the ipad and the snacks for the most part, but it's a whole different beast with a 21 month old. His attention span lasts about 5 mins - so much for staying quiet with a limited number of "Mother Goose Club" episodes.... There are only so many snacks that can fit in his little belly, and crayons -- well, let's just say that airplane tray tables make much more interesting canvases than coloring books (sorry airplane)...And the cookies? Well, let's just chalk that up to user error - what I thought was a great idea (almond flour chocolate chip soft baked cookies made with maple syrup) ended up being a tantrum causing nightmare. He had one of those and the chocolate just put him over the top -- half an hour later, we had a screaming, kicking, hands flailing type of tantrum. I'm pretty sure it was the sugar in the chocolate.
BUT, it was still worth it. Because of everything we got to do while we were there - and the precious time that the kids got to spend with their cousins, and their aunt and uncle. Those types of opportunities only come around every once in a while, and when they do - you have to grab hold of them tight. There were so many fits of giggles and laughter in the house. So many bubbles, and cartwheels and chocolate smeared faces in the backyard. So many "woah's", "sharks!", and "amazing's" at the Aquarium. So many smiles and little goggle eyes at the pool...so many songs and little voices in the car rides.
So, even though there were a few grueling hours we had to endure at the airport and on the planes, it was all worth it. These are memories that will last forever. And next time you are in the middle of one of those "all hell just broke loose" type of airplane tantrums, take a deep breath and know, in the end, it will be worth it. Just a little longer and you'll be back on the ground...grabbing on tight to those memories that only come around once in a while but will last a lifetime.