Friday, May 05, 2006
What Have I Done?
My sister is getting married in September and has asked me to come help her get things lined out before hand. No problem, except that she lives 2000 miles away and I have oodles of children. I got good news in the form of an e-mail from Frontier Airlines yesterday, alerting me to a fare sale. It wasn't good enough news to buy all the tickets to eliminate "who will watch the children", but who wants to spend a week shopping, tasting food, picking flowers and trying on dresses with children in tow? Fortunately enough, I have friends that really, really like me and don't mind adding a few of my children in with their children, but I just couldn't bring myself to push the bounds of those friendships to ask anyone to keep J. I'd like to have Taxi Girl as a friend when I come back. So I booked the flight for myself and added J as an infant passenger. Then I asked some of my flights-with-kids saavy pals for advice with the logistics of transporting all the gear that goes with children under age two. It wasn't until then that I actually did the math, and realized I'd just VOLUNTARILY signed up and PAID for a 7 1/2 hour stint in a small, enclosed space, with a child who doesn't like to be held and is prone to Diva fits. So ladies, do tell, what are your favorite small-person distractions? Drugging her probably isn't an option, and allowing her to have permanent black markers, sharp objects, packing peanuts and other forbidden delights would probably be frowned upon; so I need some MAJOR distractions to keep her happy during these flights. In fact, any toddler air travel tips at all, I beg you to dish. 
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3 comments:
Crayons, coloring books, Leapster, magna doodle, LOTS of goldfish, juice boxes, plenty of diapers (and let me tell you about the JOY of changing a poopy diaper on an airplane at 30,000 feet!!) portable dvd player(you might could rent one). And lots and lots of Prayer!!! Sorry!!
A comfortable to carry diaper bag for long distances is a must! We just did this in January and the strap on mine killed me. Also, try to take small things with high play value: mini magna doodle, colorforms for the plane window, stickers, mini spill proof bubble blower, chunky little board books with lift the flaps, crayola modeling foam, fuzzy pipe cleaners, and a sucker or two for when things get desperate. We also used a baby sling instead of a stroller and let her do lots of running in a nonbusy section of the airport between flights. Look for an in airport playground. Good luck and have fun!
The dvd player is a great idea if you could get one, and/or a CD player if she likes to listen to music. If you can afford it, I would suggest buying everything new (the coloring books, magna doodle, books...)~hopefully this will keep her attention longer. And try to take things out one at a time so you can spread out the fun :-)
Good luck!
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