When I was pregnant, I knew that things would change after my baby was born. Prior to becoming parents, my husband and I were frequent flyers and enjoyed traveling. This was just one of the things that would change.
Admit it, we have all been there. While sitting patiently waiting to board the plane, you check for gum and your book that is safely packed away in your carry on. You are thinking about your destination until you are distracted by a parent and a baby that sit down next to you. The baby is screaming and trying to flip out of its parent’s protective arms while the parent struggles to hold the child and continues to say his or her name over and over. You slowly turn and cross your legs away from these noisy passengers. You say a silent prayer that your seat is no where near theirs.
If you are not a parent, you may not think about what it feels like to be the person that is traveling with a child. It is hard to be the one that everyone rolls their eyes at and races to get away from. I have experienced the dirty looks from fellow passengers and the less-than-friendly behavior from several flight attendants. As a Mother that has traveled with her kids, I can describe the stress that goes along with being on the other side.
As the travel day begins, we pack the car, drive to the airport, unload our bags at curbside check, and I stay with the kids and the carry-on bags as my husband parks the car, unhooks the car seats and gets on the shuttle to meet us in the airport. As we wait in the security line, we each remove our shoes, take the laptop and DVD player out of their protective bags, and get our 3 car seats, 5 carry-on bags, liquid items and stroller ready for inspection.
I watch the kids and help them to put their shoes back on while my husband attempts to gather our belongings. Thank goodness for him because I would have no idea where any of our things are. The boys want to put their shoes on by themselves despite the fact that we are getting dangerously close to boarding time. By the time everyone has their shoes back on, a manager at security has been called because no one is sure that we can take our unopened juice boxes on the plane. Once they have opened and tested one juice, we are allowed to take the rest with us. (This is a good thing because by now, the kids are asking to drink the juice that I packed to keep them busy during take off.) So we proceed to the gate with the baby riding in the stroller, all three car seats balancing on top, two carry on bags in the stroller basket and the rest are loaded on our shoulders. As I push the stroller, I hold the three car seats in place to keep them from falling and shift my neck to look around them. We walk swiftly and remind the two older boys to keep moving because the plane won’t wait for us.
My neck is tense. My head is throbbing. My arms are tired. My skin is sticky with sweat. We are not even on the plane yet. Thank goodness for pre-boarding.