Travel tips

As the family of a pilot, we have the opportunity to travel.  I love to travel.  I love the airport.  I love to people watch.  I love the hustle and bustle.  However, I have a toddler.  My toddler isn’t just content to sit and watch people as we wait for a flight.  So I have to be creative and very organized.  We have flown together a handful of times already so I often get asked for tips for traveling with a little.  Here the lessons I have learned when traveling with a tiny traveler. 

1.        We fly standby so we are very limited in what we can take.  We get by with a stroller, a small suitcase and a back pack.  The only place we have flown is home to the grandparents in Michigan. Thankfully they have all the kid necessities- carseat, pack n play, even diapers.  Those are travel cheats. 

2.       I have been known to use a wreath hanger (for your front door) to hook the suitcase to the stroller so I can be as hands free as possible.

3.       Backpack- I keep this very organized with lots of ziplock freezer bags.  I have a bag with a full change of clothes (because you never know!).  I have a bag with all the diaper stuff- multiple diapers, a cloth to lay down for changes anywhere, and diaper cream.  The next bag has snacks- lots of them!  The last bag has toys.  Bring a few empty grocery bags because there is always trash with a kid.  Keeping your area clean is all a part of making a good impression.

4.       The toy bag is all little toys found at the dollar store.  Little action figures, coloring books, glow sticks, etc.  Meter them throughout the flight.  Tell the kid they can have one at a time.  When they want something new, hand in the old toy.  Then in the last stretch during descent, give them the toy bag to just have at it.  Makes the toys fresh even though he just played with them 30 minutes ago.

5.       I am that mom that uses a leash for their kid- no shame.  Walmart has cute ones for $10 that have a stuffed animal backpack on them.  Makes it seem a little more humane.  Yes, I get a lot of judgy glares when walking through the airport with my leashed kid but at least my kid is thinking he is independent while I know he is safe.

6.       This sounds silly but put your kid in the cutest outfit you own.  We lean towards super hero jammies.  You want to walk down that plane aisle and hear people say “Aw”.  That way you make a good first impression and people won’t hate you for bringing a kid on the plane.

7.       Same goes for mom and dad.  Dress up.  When you dress up, you exude confidence and control.  You need to walk on that plane with your head held high like you know what you’re doing.  Nobody wants to sit next to a kid on a plane but if you look confident as a parent you get more support from your fellow passengers.

8.       Kids 2 and up need their own seats on airplanes so talk it up to your two year old.  Talk about how a big boy (or girl) gets their own seat with their own seat belt.  make it exciting.

9.       Give them snacks as the airplane takes off and lands to help their ears with the air pressure.  Trey usually wants to snack on the way up but typically doesn’t on the way down so I keep a sucker for the end of the trip.  That’s a special treat and distracts him from the air pressure in his ears.

10.   We use an ipad on the plane.  It’s the only time we use it.  We “rent” movies from itunes.  I usually pick a few of his favorites to choose from.  This time I put a few games that he loves on the ipad to give us a few more things to do.

11.   I’m not above bribing.  Remember the sucker you packed for the end of the flight to help with air pressure?  Tell the kid you have a “surprise” for the end of the flight if he makes good choices and listens to mama. 

All these tips will help you prepare for a fun trip with your little.  When you get on the plane, sit back, relax and watch in horror as none of it works.  That’s how this last trip went.  I brought all the things that worked before and Trey wasn’t having it.  He wanted nothing to do with my snacks, toys or the ipad.  All he wanted to do was sit and scream (and kick… and hit).  It was humiliating.  I felt the eyes of the whole plane staring at me.  I could only imagine the comments: “she needs to control her child”.  “just give him what he wants!”  “what is wrong with you?”  It took everything in me to not cry with him. 

Sadly, sometimes this is life.  We plan.  We prepare.  We pack all the appropriate tools to deal with life.  Sometimes the circumstances of life come out of nowhere and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.  We feel helpless.  We feel trapped.  We feel out of control.  We empty out our backpack of tools and nothing seems to touch the problem.  That’s life.

Feeling helpless is the worst.  We’re not equipped for it.  In a world overloaded with self-help resources, we are not accustomed to not having the answers.  That is especially true for parents.  We’re used to being the source of information and comfort for our kids.  When they’re upset, we want to jump in and help.  But there is sometimes nothing we can do.  I know in this particular situation with Trey I could have had all the toys in the world but all he needed was some time to himself.  On an airplane, I couldn’t give that to him.  All I could do was to be calm myself and give him what little space I could offer him.  I   knew I needed to set the example of peace.  His moods are reflected off of mine.  If I am anxious, he will be anxious. 

So what happens when we, the parents, are not at peace?  Where do we get the peace that we need to model in front of our kids?  In a world of tragedy and fear, the only true peace comes from our Heavenly Father.  He created it and He is the true source.  He doesn’t have to try to put on peace for us, He IS peace.    

How do we tap into that?  Scripture. 

Psalm 119:105 says “Your Word is a lamp until my feet and a light unto my path.”  If you keep reading to verse 107 it says “I have suffered much”.  Sometimes we feel like that, right?  We feel like enough is enough.  I can’t take any more.  It continues to say “give me life… accept my freewill offering of praise”.  We cry out to the Lord because we have suffered enough and we need His help. 

Psalm 116:3b-5a,6 says “I was overcome by distress and sorrow.  Then I called on the Lord:  ‘Lord, save me!’ The Lord is gracious and righteous; the Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.”  The part that I love is “when I was brought low, he saved me”.  When enough was enough, he saved me.    Who did the saving?  HE did.  It wasn’t our plan.  It wasn’t all the tools we brought in our backpack.  He did it.  God has his own Holy backpack. He knows what we need and when we need it. 

Sometimes we are like Trey, throwing down on the floor of the airplane kicking and screaming because we are tired and rest is elusive.  God is sitting nearby, poised and ready with what He knows we need.  But He knows when we need it too.  He knows when deliverance will be most effective.  I try to plan what I will need for Trey and when he will need it.  I try to be one step ahead of him.  But I’m human and he’s human.  We have flaws.  As much as I want to be prepared and therefore in control, I can’t be.  It is not in my nature.  But God is always one step ahead.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  Psalm 16:8 says “I have set the Lord continually before me; Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  This is one of my favorite verses.  I find peace when I think of God being right next to me and also being ahead of me.  Every day I step into situations where he has already been, and yet he is with me, holding my hand.  That is where I find peace when my world is uncertain.