Back From Vaca...

I am taking a departure from the shop to tell you about my trip home to STL. OK note so much my trip but the plane ride itself. I am sharing this with you because I think that if I had known the private hell many parents go through taking their children on planes I would have had a lot more sympathy for them prior to having my munchkin.

My daughter has been on planes several times and has generally been great, minimal fussing and has been a big hit among the flight crew. Well I was freaking out about this trip months before it happened because this would be the first plane ride since she has learned how to walk. My daughter is full of personality and is VERY opinionated. She does not like "no" or to be confined. I actually purchased the tickets almost a month after I had planned on because I was so apprehensive about flying with her especially since my hubby wouldn't be able to come.

Well the big day came and as much as I worried about it I was hoping in the back of my mind that I was making a mountain out of a molehill....

Well I wasn't...to STL we had to stop over in Denver. The first flight wasn't full (we didn't realize until later in the trip) but we were seated with another lady. Munchkin was a bit fussy in the beginning but I was able to redirect her attention at first. Then I decided to prevent her from running up and down the plane, touching random people who were trying to sleep. Bring on the meltdown....it got to the point where I had to get up and carry her up and down the plane. Luckily we realized it wasn't a full flight and I was able to take her to the back row and hold her, which kept her from crying too much. But I had to hold her standing up for a good hour and that was no fun. I called my hubby when we got to Denver and told him that I was never doing this again by myself. He told me that the next flight would be better...he was partially right. This flight also wasn't super full so we had a section all to ourselves. Across from us was this mom with her two small kids so Munchkin was super focused on the kids (she loves people, kids especially) for most of the flight until the last 30 minutes where she cried non-stop.

Needless to say I was dreading the flight home today. To my surprise she slept the majority of the first flight and it was pretty empty. I should have known that my luck could not continue. It started with my flight changing gates twice and us running from one side of the airport to the other and back. So I didn't have enough time to get some milk for her. The flight was full and we were stuck in a window seat. Well from the second the flight began to move she was crying her eyes out, screaming, squealing and flailing around. Nothing helped, not toys, juice, food, TV or being comforted. After they turned off the seat belt sign I was forced to get up with her, hoping she would stop (she prefers to be held standing up for some reason). Well standing up didn't help but I didn't want to go back to our little claustrophobic seat so I stood up with her while she flailing around screaming her head off for over an hour. My back was killing me, my patience was shot and I was so tired and overwhelmed I cried myself. She eventually fell asleep in my arms and stayed that way for most of the flight until the very end.

So I am now going to be doing nighttime flights until she gets a bit older and hopefully that will lead to much easier flights and a much happier mom and baby.

Luckily even though I know it was super annoying for a lot of passengers no one made any comments (that I could hear) and several were actually really helpful and understanding so it made me feel a little less upset.

OK now that that ramble is over don't forget about Simply Stacie's giveaway!