Air Adventure to Madison, WI

Air traveling with kids.  We’ve all heard nightmare stories about the incessant crying, the constant kicking on the seat, the trying to keep the little ones from disrupting other passengers on the plane.  When NYCity Mama had just one child it seemed so much easier to travel, not only financially easier, but logistically as well.  Mama and her husband have avoided it for some time.  Even when Mama and the kids moved back to NYC, Mama decided on driving overnight just to avoid having to take a plane with all the kids.

However, they weren’t going to be able to avoid it forever.  And the time had come.  With the oldest son having a week off from school, Mama and her husband had an opportunity to visit family and return to the Midwest.  

The day of travel, everything was incredibly organized, despite Mama’s procrastination in the packing area.  She has never mastered the ability to pack early.  She always waits till the night before…and even then it is primarily her husband who gets everything together.  But the next day was perfection.  They got out early, got to the airport with without hassle and checked it with plenty of time to spare.

Going through security was a pain.  Taking all their shoes off, their jackets, the diaper bags, the carrying ons…torture. The worst was taking the 2.5 year old out of his stroller to go through the detector and trying to convince him to get back in it.  Or telling the 3.5 year old that the little bag of popcorn he had been eating from had to be taken away, just for a minute, while he went through the detector.  By the time they got to the other side of the detector complete chaos had ensued.  Babies were crying, popcorn was flying all over the place, tantrums had taken a life of their own.  Stupid security checks and their stupid anti-baby, parent torturing rules!

The plane they were boarding was a tiny one.  One that had one aisle with one seat, and another aisle with two seats. Which meant someone (Mama) was stuck with both little boys for the next two hours.

However, earlier that week, Mama had received some activity books from a Kumon Publishing.  Tracing, coloring, learning numbers, cut and paste, and stickers, both in English and Spanish, and perfect for keeping her boys busy on such an occasion.  So after the boys got tired of playing with their parents’ iPhones, Mama was able to keep both boys busy with some activities.  Their favorite: the “Let’s Sticker & Paste!” book.  It was a good 40 minutes of fun.

Mama and her husband traded places a few times, with him sitting with the boys, and her sitting solo, though they always sought her out.  All in all, it was a easy flight.  Yes Mama was exhausted, but they were lucky to have been surrounded by really nice people, and the Continental Airlines flight attendant was really helpful and friendly.  The seats weren’t the best, they were all the way to the back of the plane, near the bathroom, which was gross, the boys needed constant distraction and attention to be kept on their seats for two hours, but no one had a tantrum, no one got sick, and everyone was smiling, which in Mama’s book makes for a great trip.

With their air adventure conquered, next they were ready to take on Madison, WI.

NEXT:  Midwestern Easter, Family Style, Madison, WI

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Tags: travel, vacation
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