I have several friends who have flown with their kids and they did great - BUT, none of them have gotten back to me on how well they did while going through the "terrible twos";-/
Bailey has been HOT lately with her attitude and behavior... Let's leave it at that. We have had some biting, hitting, and hair pulling incidents. Aside from that, probably her worst habit is screaming and throwing things. Bailey probably has 40-50 words in her vocabulary but at times refuses to use them - this often results in throwing something or screaming at the top of her lungs. She just acts stubborn to talk when I know she can say something, she just turns her head away refusing to do so. It's a power struggle... THIS was my biggest fear while flying with her. I knew altitude and travel would not be the problem, it was the behavior...
Well, the flight was about 2 hours from NC to Chicago where we would connect and then less than an hour from Chicago to Cedar Rapids. Christian's company would buy her her own ticket which I tried to do, but with us deciding last minute to go, there were no two open seats - so, lap child it is.
When I boarded I was excited to find that no one had occupied the seat next to me, the flight attendant was about to close the door when a woman and her son come bolting on the plane... I'm thinking "great". I knew one of them would be in that seat... I was hoping for her son because he was a teenager and therefore his opinion of Bailey would not bother me... ha! But, of course the woman sat next to me and her son behind her.
Well, she ended up being a GODSEND!
Turns out she worked for the airline and had 3 kids. Her and her son were on their first leg to their final destination to China. The first half hour Bailey was fine... then it began going downhill. First, she was obsessed with poking this woman's boobs and pinching her "fat rolls"... Im like - REALLY BAILEY!!!!
The woman was such a good sport - saying, "yes, that is fat... it's squishy... your mommy does not have this yet.." It was hilarious. The more I told her to stop, the more she did it - so I just ignored it. Then, Bailey wanted to put all of her stuff on the woman's tray. Again, she was so cool about it. She practically played with Bailey the entire time. Letting her play with her iPad and handing her toys and taking them back.
It was the final descent that the woman really saved me. The captain alerts us that we are approaching Chicago and had about 30 minutes left - that was when Bailey began UNRAVELING.
I know her ears were bugging her because they were actually bugging me! The woman said that the captain seemed to be taking a SUPER slow descent which is apparently worse than just diving... Bailey kept grabbing her ears, squirming, and in conjunction was simply OVER the flight. She began screaming and wiggling... I then tried distracting her with her toys. That is when all HELL broke loose.
Remember the "throwing" that I was so worried about? Well, my worst nightmare came true. First, it was the passie. It got tossed in the air 4-5 times, hitting people, landing in their laps, all over the plane. Then, I gave her her Leap Pad to play with - well, she chucked it too - hitting the guy in front of me in the HEAD!!! Then, I handed her her phone which she chucked during a descent and it was sent flying down the isle all the way to the front of the plane! As people were passing it back, I began getting the "look" from people. I'm like,
"DUDE! Trust me, no one wants off this plane more than me!" I felt like jumping!
Finally the woman next to me said, "Don't worry about people - they have to deal with it." I think she could see that I was nearly in tears. There is no worse feeling being in a place and having your child lose it and not be able to reprimand them or take them away. It is a humbling experience...
Finally the woman asked her son to get some Cheez-its out of his bag. She had an entire box and she opened it. She asked Bailey, "Do you want some Cheez-Its?" Bailey began reaching int he box eating them! Then, the woman said, "Do you want to share with Conner (her son)?" So, for the last 15 minutes, Bailey reached in the box and fed Conner through the seat. She FORCED him to keep eating - if he stopped, she screamed... Poor guy must have eaten 500 of them!
Well, that was the end. We finally landed and turns out some of those men who looked at me with crazy eyes actually volunteered to carry my bag and get my stroller from under the plane. I think they had a change of heart and Im sure they felt sorry for me :(
Hopefully when Bailey takes her next flight, she will be a little more stable. Right now, being one and a half and stubborn with her words, she is like a terrorist on a plane. Non-negotiable.
As for the second flight, she did much better - she also had her own seat which helped :) Once we left the airport - we weren't even out of the parking lot and she was OUT! So cute :)
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| Watching the planes |
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| Being a good mommy |
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| Eating her snack |
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| Cutie |
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| Getting tired... |
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| Trying to lay down |
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| Not really working |
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| Night Night |
