Home, Sweet Home

We’re back home in South Carolina after 19 days away, thousands of miles traveled, and 3 separate destinations visited. And the grand finale of vacation this year was me flying alone with the 2 children yesterday. Gulp. I actually received gasps of horror from several of my mama friends when I told them this as we were planning our trip. The idea of being confined on an airplane with an unpredictable infant and an extremely energetic 3 year-old without another adult/set of hands was daunting, but a couple of my friends who had flown with their kids before assured me, “It’s never as bad as you think it’s going to be…”. Comforting, I know. Still, the idea of flying seemed so much more appealing to me than the looonnng drive back from Pennsylvania, where the children and I spent last week with my family (and Mark had to come back home for work). In my mind, the advantages of the plane were:
1) It’s a direct flight. 2) It’s only 1.5 hours from take-off until landing… 3) I can try anything once, and 4) I will (hopefully) never see any of the passengers again if my kids are screaming the entire time and I am “that mom”.

And the end result was: The kids were GREAT. I actually received compliments from several people about how well behaved my children were, which is comical considering our current challenges with Luke’s behavior (but that’s another blog post). The most difficult aspect of the experience was planning all of the logistics (how to pare down 3 weeks’ worth of needs into 2 suitcases that could be checked, and what to send home with Daddy, etc). I continue to be amazed how the tiniest person in our family requires the most “stuff” and that the amount of space needed for each family member’s items is directly disproportionate to their size/rank in the family. (I think Mark ended up with about ¼ of a small suitcase for his wardrobe/shoes/toiletries for our entire vacation)…

With Mimi’s help to lug all of our gear through security(stroller with carseat, laptop, and carry-ons full of diapers, outfit changes, and snacks) and escort us to the gate (the Non-Passenger Escort Pass may be the best invention in the entire world besides the epidural), we boarded the plane with no problem and the flight was quick and easy. Luke was so excited to meet the pilot, who gave him a handshake (I guess pilots aren’t really the “high five” type), his own set of wings (which I loved, and remember having a pair of these when I was little), and a cute coloring book and activity set. Luke was delighted by the beverage service (and called it “magical apple juice”- not sure why), turned up his nose at the free peanuts, and watched a Bob the Builder DVD on my laptop. We stretched out in the front row and had plenty of room, Leah fed discretely under my nursing wrap and fell asleep for most of the flight, and Daddy picked us up at the Greenville airport, which is less than a mile from our house. Admittedly, I breathed a big sigh of relief when I plopped into Mark’s car, and had a momentary sense of victory and accomplishment that now I could probably do anything.

The funniest part of it all was that Luke’s blue potty (which is not exactly a tiny item) was one of our carry-ons. He is frightened by public toilets and there was no way that I was going to risk an accident on the plane, so I chose to have his potty securely in tow for the trip. And he sure did sit down and use it in the middle of the terminal at BWI… Ahh, we are classy these days. When we pulled in our driveway yesterday and the temperature on Mark’s car registered 119 degrees (it wasn’t quite that hot but you know how the thermometer on cars always is a bit higher than actuality), I thought, “Oh, summer in South Carolina… Take me back to the beach!” But we’re home sweet home, with new memories from our adventures in the sky.