Before I had my son, I used to scoff at those who warned, "travel now. When you have children, you can't go anywhere." As someone who is forever planning my next trip, I figured parenthood would not change me at all. I saw myself as an intrepid explorer, with the baby strapped on by back, effortlessly navigating subways and airports. I would keep my yearly date at my Jamaican getaway, pursue plans to visit Japan, and make more visits to my friends and family in California.
But my son, with his cherubic cheeks and devilish smile, is a howler. He actually can scream until he is blue in the face. Born a bit colicky, our first trip to the grocery store was a debacle. He screamed. And screamed. And screamed. My husband decided he'd bolt around the store and shop while I held the baby in an aisle. As he walked away, he started to ask how he'd find me, but then realized the entire store could hear my son and that he'd find us just fine. Until my son was about 5 months, he made any outing--a stroll on a sunny day, a car ride to get take-out, a trip to the pediatricians--dicey. He might be fine, or he might scream bloody murder and make everyone's life Hell.
Needless to say, while he has morphed into a charming 10 month old, I am still a bit of a chicken when it comes to taking him too far from home. Even for short car rides, I overpack. So when I finally decided to take the plunge and take a trip to see the Grandparents in California, I spent weeks agonizing about it.
I consulted every parent I knew, read blogs, read articles, lingered in the "travel" aisle of Babies R Us. Debated whether to take the carseat on the plane or check it, dope him up with Benadryl, buy a "Gogo Kidz" roller, make sure our seats were in the back of the plane. I planned how to spend every hour of the 51/2 hours of the flight.
I packed an "activity bag" and a "diaper/feeding" back as carry ons. I bought new toys and wrapped up old ones--1-2 toys per hour. I brought 3 changes of clothes for him and wore layers that I could take off should I be spit up on. I brought more snacks than I thought we'd need plus more babyfood. A Ziploc bag of medicine. His favorite blanket. Since the seats were so cheap on Jetblue, we bought and extra one and brought the carseat. It felt like I had packed our entire apartment when it was time to go through security, but the folks at JFK took pity on us and were extremely helpful. My husband struggled aboard first with the carseat [the one thing I do wish I had bought was the Gogo Kidz roller. That will be a must next time.], while I gate checked the stroller. I felt like--and probably smelled--like a sweaty mule as I carried the baby and my two heavy bags onto the plane, but people are very nice when they see you lugging a baby around, so I got some help from the flight attendants.
As we slid Trevor into his carseat, he smiled and looked around amusedly. He seemed really ready for the adventure. And you know what? He was a perfect angel the entire flight. He played quietly, slept, smiled at the other passengers and didn't scream once. In fact, even when we all came down with a stomach flu the last day of our vacation and had to delay our flight--and even when that flight was cancelled and we had to leave 2 days later at the break of dawn--he was amazing.
The trip was a hurdle that had filled me with anxiety as a new parent, and now I feel liberated and confident. I am no longer worried about car trips, subway rides, grocery store runs. The bus is a no brainer. And even if the next flight isn't as smooth, I know that we'll make it. Even if it means bringing an entire box of Cheerios along.
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