Monday, 26 October 2009
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Travelling With Children? Here is How Not to Do It!
Transatlantic travel alone with a toddler. As scary as that sounds I have done it not once, not twice but three times. Throw in flying inside the country alone with a toddler and I have done enough travel to be something of an expert at this topic! Why don't I talk about the trips taken as a couple with a kid, well to be honest they don't count.. for then you know who is dealing with the kid! And if anything I am at least honest!
However, if there is one thing I can tell you is that all those guide books lie when they tell you they are going to make life easier for you with a few tips. Here is where you need to ask in loud unison "Are they? Are they?" You can find a million tips on the internet trying to make it easier for you.. but then it never is.
This one tip really cracked me up. It said "Do not rush on to the plane. Let toddlers explore the boarding area to let out some energy." - Oh yeah they actually tell you that.. I am usually carrying at least a dozen things in the boarding area.. So I cannot get into that plane fast enough. To give you a picture, here is what I am carrying
a. A suitcase that I decided to drag along for carry on baggage - Why I do that? I haven't the faintest clue.
b. A backpack that is actually a hold all.. has everything but the oven and refrigerator in it.. food, toys, books, sanitary wipes, clothes .. you get the idea. And somewhere in there I have stuffed my purse in too, you are just about to find out why!
c. A second backpack that the darling son promised to pull when we bought it at the store, but since then I have found that it is just another thing I have to carry along.. and this thing I can't leave behind by any means!
d. A toy that had to be bought at the store. The other 10 odd toys we are carrying amongst us, just wouldn't do!
e. A Happy Meal from Mc D - Don't you dare smile, I was the one who stood in that long winding queue up to the counter. And I am the one who described to the bewildered lady, just how my toddler wanted it, so it would be perfect - no smelly onions or icky "stuff" whatever that means on it!
f. A soda that went with a meal, a bottle of water that did not.. Come on even I get tired after a dozen trips to the water fountain in answer to the polite "Mommy can I please have a sip of water?" You cant say no to that can you? Even if you knew that every time it was just the fascination of the fountain that had you juggling all your things as you tagged along with the expert manipulator - pouty lips, brimming eyes, declarations of a dry throat et al.
g. And after all the trips I am entitled to be hungry ain't I? So throw in a hastily bought meal and drink for me. Wish I had got the fries and burgers after all.. today is a day I will be needing my carbs!
Or you could be the parents of that kid who insisted on talking to everyone. She went to this lady working on her laptop and said "Excuse me, can I see a movie". The lady replied "I am sorry sweety I am working". The little girl made a sorry puppy dog face to say "But mommy lets me watch it on her laptop". I was so sure this was some relative and everyone around was giving her glaring looks when we heard the mom looking for her child "Sara, Sara".. and drag her away! I couldn't help but burst out laughing! If she had stuck to it, bet you she could have watched a movie on the lady's laptop!
Or you could be the parents of this other kid who saw this plane in my son's hand and wanted one similar. "You have a plane honey" the parents could be heard saying "But that ones makes real sounds.. I don't want mine anymore, can I have that one?" My son of course did not help as he kept sounding the plane and making all those whirring noises.. no amount of shushing him worked.. I think the kids had a pact, for after the parents checked with me and went back to the same store to get an exactly similar plane these 2 kids till then unknown to each other, were playing blissful at last.. yeah right for the next 5 minutes.
So don't even think about prolonging the torture, just get on that plane and get where you are going!
Did the site offering tips ask you to take along books, toys and movies. I am telling you none of those books will be read, toys will be played be rest assured but for all of five minutes. And the movie will begin to get "boring" in about 15 minutes. So where does that leave you for the next 16 and a half hours?
If you thought that was hard. Ever tried going on a road trip with a child? How about 3? How about 3 of which 2 are not even your own.. oh well they were related to me (my sister in laws kids)! And guess what 2 were 5 years old.. but that's not all.. they were both of opposite tastes.. one a girly girl and another a macho boy! And the third was a 10 yr old, striving to look all grown up but still finding it upsetting that the "kids" wouldn't play the games he wanted! Looking back... it definitely was a fun trip!!
So tell me.. what do you do when you have to travel with your kids? Do you let out a silent scream or grin and bear it? Or are you one of those calm and composed super moms with an answer for everything? Do share!
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About the Author
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- From: CheekyTales
- Name: CheekyTales
- About Me: I am a parent, freelance writer and an IT professional - Oh yes in that order! For parenting does take a lot of time and energy. However it has taught me something.. being a parent has taught me that I can never be the master, I am always going to fumble and that it is okay to laugh out loud about it! Cheeky tales is an attempt to laugh at the little oddities in day to day life! And I find the reason to laugh in my toddler, my family, my daily observations and most of all in myself! Join me in my wonderful quest for laughter and life!
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Comments (12)
Oh, man. The thought of traveling by air scares me. My son is only 11 weeks old. We're making our first real trip - 600 miles by road - in two weeks. I'm extremely apprehensive. Fortunately we'll be traveling at night so hopefully he'll just sleep most of the way there and back. But we have time change this weekend, then we will lose another hour when we travel, so I'm just dreading the whole thing. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised...
LOL, I just endured a cross country trip with two toddlers and my teen daughter whom promised "to help mom, really." I, much like you, had far more things than hands and simply wanted on the plane so that I could finally set something down.
I have to say that my kids did fantastic. I was so nervous because if was my four year olds first flight and he hates loud noises. He loved it and smiled the entire way. The two year old had flown once before like a champ and this time hated every second of it. Luckily, she just slept so no other passengers were disturbed.
No more trips without another adult, I swear.
I hated traveling as a child. Had to cram into the abck seat of a tiny tiny car with my sister and brother.
I am dreading the first trip .. I am sure screaming and pulling my hair out in the bathroom will probably happen ...
We don't! And I know I'm jinxing myself as I say that...we've already discussed the possibility of heading North for a camping trip next Spring...but that'll be driving. I refuse to even consider getting on a plane with 9 & 7 year old. I will gladly fly across the country with the 11 month old. As long as she can sit on my lap most of the time and have a Dora in her hands at all times? We're golden. Perhaps even one of the older children would be okay, but both? No. No. Absolutely no.
"Mommy can I please have a sip of water?" You cant say no to that can you?
Kate Gosselin can!
i like this
I don't own children for tax purposes so I must borrow mine. I've survived every trip to date because of one lesson- I'm not going unless I want to!...and if I want to-even if my torture victem doesn't agree with my sanity-they are stuck stuck stuck! I know enough by now of travel to avoid that stuck feeling myself as I know it only amplifies the state after state howl of the baby on the bus (poor thing had the flu....and big surprise so did I when I arrived)
Last summer me and my husband and our kids had to go to Alberta, Canada. At that time my daughter was 3yo and my son was 3 mos. That was not fun cause my daughter kept whining, crying and complaining and for my son he had motion sickness so he kept puking all through the flight. And this was a full day of flying and going to one airport to the next and to the next. I was so exhausted from flying and trying to keep my daughter from complaining about everything. My husband did not want to help cause he could not take the movement of the plane so it seem like I had 3 kids that was getting on my nerves. I was so happy when we got back home from Alberta and back to Newfoundland. I told myself never again til the kids are older then we can go flying on a plane. I just got back from visiting my parents back in Montreal, Quebec. I went alone this time. That was a good break for me.
I do many many road trips with 5 children all under the age of 8 (8 down to 1) we do movies, also we play road games like find the letter or in the car eye spy, we have snacks that end up all over the place but mostly they know if they fight the movie goes off!!!
My mom lost her husband (our dad) when I was 8, and my sister was 11 years old. She took us on camping trips all on her own because that's what my parents used to do, and she didn't want us to miss out. I still don't know how she managed - poor mom!
As long as I have a husband, I am NOT taking my son on trips alone - well, I am, but nothing longer than a two-hour drive (I live in the Netherlands, and the country is very small, so that helps). Together, we can do things like this, but the longest trip we've taken so far is a five-hour flight - and even that was a challenge (our son was almost a year old at the time). He's 2 1/2 now, and we're planning a trip to my in-laws in Germany for Christmas - it's about a 4-hour drive, but we'll stay over at my mom's halfway through the trip. We're just lucky our families don't live that far apart - though I do have family in the US, too. I don't think we'll be able to see them for a couple of years, though. *sigh*
My family travels a lot, which includes frequent trips to and from United States, China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, etc. And the trips are usually over nine hours... My brother is six years old and he is always restless, bouncing off walls. He can't sit on one spot and movies serve no interest for him. So traveling is always a pain in the butt with him.