Warning! This Epinion may be uncomfortable to read for those with small children!!!
Jul 09 '00
Mix one three-year-old, a window seat, and a view of the wings, and get a recipe for an entertaining flight!
Our recent trip to Florida took us to the next level of "Can you believe she said that???". We flew coach class, and were dead center on the wing. I was very nervious flying myself, let alone with my Daughter, and my Husband. I had never flown with either of them before, so I packed well. For the Hubby, I brought a bunch of magazines he hadn't viewed before, a few twizzler sticks, and a TV Guide - all stuffed in my carry-on bag. For my Daughter, I packed her favorite action figures from Mulan, and Aladdin films, a few books, crayons, 25 sets of different sheets of stickers, an autograph book (to put the stickers in), a coloring book, snacks, juice boxes, and carried it all in her own carry-on bag.
When we were cleared for take-off, my Daughter was going nuts to open her snack tray. She saw a button, and was dying to get her hands on it. She was sitting next to the window, and it was a two hour flight from NJ to Florida.
***WARNING - THIS NEXT SECTION COULD CAUSE DISCOMFORT FOR THOSE EXPECTING TO FLY WITH YOUNG CHILDREN***IT COULD ALSO BRING FLASHBACKS OF A PREVIOUS FLIGHT*** PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!***
As our plane was taking off she started yelling, "We're going down mommy!" I corrected her and said we were going up. She insisted about "going down", and I remembered that she had just viewed an episode of "Little Bear" where he was flying like a bird, then started to fly down. I told her that Little Bear only "goes down" when he's landing. That kept her quiet for a minute!
I tried to pace her entertainment throughout the flight, and tried to get her to stop kicking the poor man in front of our seats. He was very patient. His female companion decided to recline her seat back into "my space" so I was juggling toys, and a tray table that was now part of my anatomy!
We started with crayons, and the coloring book. That didn't last long as the crayons kept rolling off of her tray table. She then wanted to dig through her bag of goodies, and was happy to find her stickers. We spent close to a half-an-hour sticking the stickers in the autograph book. I spent the next half-an-hour peeling the stickers off of the tray table, seat, window, and my legs! Luckily snacks were being served at this time, and she was occupied with the ice cubes in her cup. Snack time over, and it was a "potty" run time. Daddy volunteered to do the first run. I think he needed to stretch his legs. About 10 minutes after I watched them go into the "closet" size restroom, the light went out and they emerged. "Mommy, I went peepee!" she screamed from the rear of the plane. Laughter could be heard from 10 rows back. She repeated her announcement several times before settling back into her seat.
Forty-five minutes to go, and we were opening and closing the shade again. We started discussing how the clouds where "tickling" the wings of the plane.
Forty minutes to go. I decided to change seats with her so I could actually see out of the window for more than one minute at a time. She read Daddy's magazines, and put the tray table up and down about six times.
Thirty minutes to go. Lets count fingers, toes, eyes, noses, Hair???
Twenty-five minutes to go. I started digging through my purse for a pen, and we traced our hands onto napkins. Ink was now on every side of my hand, and I was scrubbing the tray table again.
Twenty minutes to go. The Captain announced that we were ten minutes ahead of schedule, and would be arriving within ten minutes. Whew!!! The packing started. Aladdin was on the floor by my seat, and I had to stretch my arm down under the tray table, and couldn't reach. I locked the tray up where it belonged and bent down. Laughter was heard the minute before the pain on contact happened. Toys gathered, bags packed, tray tables in upright position, and the wings started to expand. I smelled something ahead of me, and looked in where the magazines where kept, and saw a nice ripe, brown banana peel. Remnants of the previous child who flew before us.
The wings made a lot of noise, and I felt the vibration in the floor below us. My Daughter got really excited, and we switched back to our original seats. The next ten minutes flew by fast, and before we knew it, we had landed.
OK, what do I hope to accomplish with sharing details of a 2 hour flight? Be prepared - have a backup plan for the items you bring for your child to be entertained with. Get creative! Just when you think you've got everything covered, you may hear, "Mommy, I'm bored".
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Epinions.com ID:
mrssmoopy
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Member: Jamie Simpson
Location: Tree Lined Suburbs of Central NJ
Reviews written: 194
Trusted by: 309 members
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