Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I'm Afraid, Very Afraid...

...because this Saturday morning we'll be taking John on his first airplane trip, and I'm worried that he'll hate it and we'll be stuck in a small confined space way up in the air for hours with an angry, upset child on our hands. He has a hard time sitting still in one place for very long, so how is he going to sit for four hours straight? (The flight is from Boston to the island of Grand Cayman). I'm hoping he'll fall asleep since we have to get up and leave for the airport early.

Other strategies: I'm bringing some toys and books, new ones he won't see until then and some old favorites of his. We'll also bring a portable DVD player with a few videos. (You have to wear headphones with that, right? What if Johnny won't wear them? Can we still use it or would it disturb the nearby passengers?). Also, snacks and drinks will be essential (although I can't bring juice boxes or any of his favorite drinks from home since they can't go through security--darn it!). I think we'll put him in the seat between us instead of right next to the window...or would putting him by the window be better so that he can look out more easily?

If anyone has any good tips for traveling by plane with young kids, I'm all ears!

I happened to see this article about traveling with children on msnbc.com's front page a few minutes ago. What good timing! I found it to be very helpful, so I'm going to post it here for easy access. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24240009/