This has been the year o' travel. My patience has grown exponentially, and Toddler Boy has become quite the frequent flyer. Of course, my pregnancy hormones have been through the roof, so that makes traveling alone with a toddler a little more interesting.
Want to know how it went? Here it goes:
On Wednesday, our flight was set to leave at 9:15p. Toddler Boy's bedtime is 7p. However, I scheduled the flight this late so that Toddler Boy would sleep. (Fun fact: Toddler Boy is too much like Mommy. He doesn't sleep on planes.) I brought the umbrella stroller just in case he got tired while waiting at the airport. (He didn't.) He explored every nook and cranny of that place, climbed up on the seats, looked out the windows, gave fist bumps to every passenger in line, and loudly applauded the pilots that FINALLY showed up to the gate 45 minutes AFTER the plane was supposed to depart. It was exhausting. (Fun fact #2: While flying SWA, if you travel at night with a toddler, no one sits next to you. We got a whole row to ourselves. SCORE.)
So how boarding works on SWA with children under 4: after group A boards, they allow families with small children to board. I planned accordingly, and I only had a backpack to carry on and checked the stroller at the gate. Here's my PSA: If you are a family (traveling with at least 2 adults) and have older children, and you see a woman who is clearly pregnant, traveling alone, wrestling a toddler who just wants to run in one arm and a stroller in the other, please have the decency to let her go ahead of you. I promise you she will not take your seat on this very open plane. Good grief.
But I digress.
Toddler Boy, considering the fact that it was 5 hours past his bedtime, was a freaking ROCKSTAR. He was happy and enjoyable, and not once did I even come close to losing my cool. In fact, I think he won over everyone on that flight. The flight attendants were crabby, which was a bummer. But maybe they were annoyed about the delayed flight, too. Or maybe they had a bad day. Who knows. It was a short flight, so we didn't have to deal with them for long.
The trip to visit family was beyond fantastic. (We are so blessed.) I was fighting back tears as we walked to the gate. I didn't realize I'd be fighting back tears on the way to baggage claim for a different reason altogether.
Once again, the flight was delayed. But it was only delayed 30 minutes. No big deal. This stuff happens, and it could have been WAY worse. Enter PSA here, too. (YES. IT HAPPENED TWICE. TWICE!) Once again, Toddler Boy was happy and crazy. This flight was completely full. But no big deal, because I was prepared for this. Checked the stroller at the gate, went to the back of the plane (just in case Toddler Boy got out of control), and distracted the Boy 90% of the flight. Meanwhile, the flight attendants were again SUPER crabby (a trend on evening SWA flights?), and the guy sitting next to us used the entire arm rest AND put his foot under the seat in front of me. Seriously. Who does that?! But whatever. I was busy getting kicked in the stomach by the baby in my belly, and a toddler doing somersaults in my arms. I don't have time to wrestle a grown man, too. Other than the flight being CRAZY HOT (the Boy and I were both sweating through our clothes), it was uneventful. The man in the middle seat, though he was going to wait until everyone got off the plane before he unbuckled and got up, took the hint, and got up so we could leave. Toddler Boy, by the way, finally passed out while we were waiting our turn to walk off the plane. We get off the plane, I pull out my gate-check ticket and wait. And wait. And wait. Then as the flight attendant comes out, he says, "Oh. Are you waiting for a stroller?" "Yes," I replied, as I balance the sweaty dead weight on my obviously pregnant belly, hair stuck to my red face after a (thankfully) quick flight through Hell. (Just kidding. It wasn't THAT hot. But it was close.) He opened the door, looked around, came back and said, "So... you can get your stroller at baggage claim." Thanks. Thanks a lot. So I walk through the airport to baggage claim, hunched over, trying to flex my spine in various ways to lessen the shooting pains. Luckily, the moving walkways were still in service. I found the stroller and unloaded the limp, beautiful child into the stroller, and then waited, exhausted, for my small bag to come out onto the conveyor belt. Grabbed my bag and we were making our way out of the airport.
And that's when it happened.
A lady stepped in front of the stroller to stop me. I've never seen her in my entire life. But what she said, I won't forget. In a nutshell, she said, "That little boy is the brightest child I have ever seen. His vocabulary and how talkative he is... it's fabulous. You are very lucky. He's going to do something very important someday. So so bright."
Of course I agree, because, well... I'm partial. But it's amazing how little compliments (even if they are based on impression only) can change your outlook on the day. So thank you, kind lady, for making my night.
Want to know how it went? Here it goes:
On Wednesday, our flight was set to leave at 9:15p. Toddler Boy's bedtime is 7p. However, I scheduled the flight this late so that Toddler Boy would sleep. (Fun fact: Toddler Boy is too much like Mommy. He doesn't sleep on planes.) I brought the umbrella stroller just in case he got tired while waiting at the airport. (He didn't.) He explored every nook and cranny of that place, climbed up on the seats, looked out the windows, gave fist bumps to every passenger in line, and loudly applauded the pilots that FINALLY showed up to the gate 45 minutes AFTER the plane was supposed to depart. It was exhausting. (Fun fact #2: While flying SWA, if you travel at night with a toddler, no one sits next to you. We got a whole row to ourselves. SCORE.)
So how boarding works on SWA with children under 4: after group A boards, they allow families with small children to board. I planned accordingly, and I only had a backpack to carry on and checked the stroller at the gate. Here's my PSA: If you are a family (traveling with at least 2 adults) and have older children, and you see a woman who is clearly pregnant, traveling alone, wrestling a toddler who just wants to run in one arm and a stroller in the other, please have the decency to let her go ahead of you. I promise you she will not take your seat on this very open plane. Good grief.
But I digress.
Toddler Boy, considering the fact that it was 5 hours past his bedtime, was a freaking ROCKSTAR. He was happy and enjoyable, and not once did I even come close to losing my cool. In fact, I think he won over everyone on that flight. The flight attendants were crabby, which was a bummer. But maybe they were annoyed about the delayed flight, too. Or maybe they had a bad day. Who knows. It was a short flight, so we didn't have to deal with them for long.
The trip to visit family was beyond fantastic. (We are so blessed.) I was fighting back tears as we walked to the gate. I didn't realize I'd be fighting back tears on the way to baggage claim for a different reason altogether.
Once again, the flight was delayed. But it was only delayed 30 minutes. No big deal. This stuff happens, and it could have been WAY worse. Enter PSA here, too. (YES. IT HAPPENED TWICE. TWICE!) Once again, Toddler Boy was happy and crazy. This flight was completely full. But no big deal, because I was prepared for this. Checked the stroller at the gate, went to the back of the plane (just in case Toddler Boy got out of control), and distracted the Boy 90% of the flight. Meanwhile, the flight attendants were again SUPER crabby (a trend on evening SWA flights?), and the guy sitting next to us used the entire arm rest AND put his foot under the seat in front of me. Seriously. Who does that?! But whatever. I was busy getting kicked in the stomach by the baby in my belly, and a toddler doing somersaults in my arms. I don't have time to wrestle a grown man, too. Other than the flight being CRAZY HOT (the Boy and I were both sweating through our clothes), it was uneventful. The man in the middle seat, though he was going to wait until everyone got off the plane before he unbuckled and got up, took the hint, and got up so we could leave. Toddler Boy, by the way, finally passed out while we were waiting our turn to walk off the plane. We get off the plane, I pull out my gate-check ticket and wait. And wait. And wait. Then as the flight attendant comes out, he says, "Oh. Are you waiting for a stroller?" "Yes," I replied, as I balance the sweaty dead weight on my obviously pregnant belly, hair stuck to my red face after a (thankfully) quick flight through Hell. (Just kidding. It wasn't THAT hot. But it was close.) He opened the door, looked around, came back and said, "So... you can get your stroller at baggage claim." Thanks. Thanks a lot. So I walk through the airport to baggage claim, hunched over, trying to flex my spine in various ways to lessen the shooting pains. Luckily, the moving walkways were still in service. I found the stroller and unloaded the limp, beautiful child into the stroller, and then waited, exhausted, for my small bag to come out onto the conveyor belt. Grabbed my bag and we were making our way out of the airport.
And that's when it happened.
A lady stepped in front of the stroller to stop me. I've never seen her in my entire life. But what she said, I won't forget. In a nutshell, she said, "That little boy is the brightest child I have ever seen. His vocabulary and how talkative he is... it's fabulous. You are very lucky. He's going to do something very important someday. So so bright."
Of course I agree, because, well... I'm partial. But it's amazing how little compliments (even if they are based on impression only) can change your outlook on the day. So thank you, kind lady, for making my night.
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