Tips for Karen
Lucky Karen is flying with her 3 children to Maui this weekend! Since it's been 4 years or so since she's flown a sizeable distance, here are the suggestions I gave her when she emailed me about ideas for the plane...Hi karen, a few tips
First, I never medicate on flights, with the exception of tylenol for a baby who might have ear pain or who is teething. Just too chancy.
We pray a lot, that they will be good, that the baby will fall asleep easily and people next to us will be patient and kind.
We also pack some things they haven't seen before. Leapster is great for J's age. We've had a portable DVD player on some flights.
I also buy stickers, character bandaids (some people swear by this), new coloring books, sticker books, card game, crayons, notebooks, blank paper, activity books, but things they can do on their own too, since you don’t want to have to explain how to do things if you are in the middle of keeping somebody else happy.
We usually put who we think will be the most difficult on the one on one parent situation, and the other 2 with the other parent.
Snacks are good too since you never know how much they will give you on the plane. We try to fill them up at the airport too, esp. if we have a long wait.
I always bring 2 outfits for a baby, and maybe an extra shirt for the other 2. You just never know.
I am rereading this maybe thinking it's just like packing a super-duper church bag. For a 5 hour sacrament meeting!
With all this, try to limit what you actually bring on because it makes life harder to have too much stuff on the plane. I would pack J. and I. their own backpack they can carry and access with their stuff. A favorite or new stuffed animal is always popular with our crowd.
Also, just ignore people's strange looks and off the wall comments. I found I was a lot happier if I just was in my own bubble so to speak and didn't pay attention to what other people were saying.
And remember in a few hours you'll be in paradise! Good luck!
Feel free to add any other tips!
posted by Kathryn @ 7:04 PM
3 Comments:
Kathryn,
Thanks again! You are such a lifesaver! We will be saying lots of prayers. Right now I'm trying to figure out which one is the "most difficult." haha.
Great tips, Kathryn! With my flights to Japan with Madison, I did most all of these things. Anything new, different, and old standbys always worked for me. And some good old candy never hurt! :) Wish I was flying off to paradise right now...
Karen, I'm not sure how old your kids are, or how many you have - but I feel like I am the world champion of flying with kids after my 23 hour flight to Australia with a 6 yr old, 2 year old and 10 month old - by myself.
All Kathryn's tips are great. I second the food one, also if there's going to be a meal served, call ahead and request a kids meal. Those small tubs (party bag size) of play-dough were also a big hit for my kids.
I think the most important tip is to ignore everyone else. I told myself -
(1) My kids are great and I love them.
(2) Their being on this flight was my choice for them - not theirs, so I should be understanding when they got bored or restless.
(3) I paid for their seats, just like other passengers. No-one had the right to make us feel bad for being there.
(4) If we could just take this day of traveling, we'd have 3 weeks in Australia to enjoy, and Rick would be with me to travel home.
I also said lots of prayers before we left. It worked like a dream, the kids were great, other passengers were helpful. I would totally do it again! It has also made every trip to Utah since, seem like a breeze - since it's about 1/5 of the length!!
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