Category: Travel

If you talk to the moms–they may say, “Wow…I’ll try this again in about 5 years,” but if you talk to the wise, old Grandma Oak–that would be me–I’d say these babies were fabulous little travelers.

First, understand that we woke these little people up at about 4 am and hauled them to the airport–still in their jammies for this adventure. The trip involved two flights–one from SLC to Atlanta then another to NYC.

Baby Chompy did really well because she just hung out with mom and dad with all the comforts and amenities of home…

so to speak.

We did, however, learn quite a bit about what worked to keep a couple of 18 month olds entertained and what…um…tanked.

Grapes were a great idea, along with string cheese and Goldfish crackers. Food is always a good thing…always.

Do you recall the wooden characters, held together by elastic cording? Well before the babies ever saw them, they got so tangled up in my bag that the excitement became seeing if we could free the little beggars from the twisted ridiculous mass they’d become. Once we got them sorted out–the twins wanted them tangled again–because it was more fun that way.

Next time, I’ll use shorter cord and store them in a ziploc bag.

They loved the quiet books their mama made.

And the cookies turned out to be the perfect size.

Remember the flash card strips? They were great until the babies discovered that it was pretty easy to tear them apart and toss them all over the place. Note to self: Use stronger tape next time.

The dolls with the pacifiers were good. The tiny toys stayed in the bag because I was terrified of having to pick them up off the floor—which would have been completely impossible—if they fell…or got thrown.

The wind-ups worked for a while especially the mouse that does back flips. Anything that does back flips is a keeper.

I’d say that the hardest part was that those active little bodies still had this to deal with…

spooky–non-play-in-able, high traffic aisles…

no where to go if you leave the safety of your assigned lap…

and zero leg room…ZERO. Seriously, have these plane designer people actually ever measured a human being?

Honestly.

Oh, and there are a couple of new discoveries. First of all–without exception, the other passengers around us were very kind, helpful and forgiving–when toys were dropped and rolled to the outer edges of the universe, or the baby woke up disoriented and needed to cry for a while. Our neighbors were amazing. We also learned that…

With enough entertainment, cuddling, patience and chamomile, it was possible to finally, finally wear our darlings out.

And–the stranger in the row ahead—with the fancy cell phone/dvd player/music maker/carrot shredder—

will always be cooler than Grammy and her Hello Kitty bag of laminated flashcards.

That’s precisely why I also brought Pez.

Naa-naaa.

I win.

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Happy Birthday Bald Kid!