Travelling with kids

Plane travel with two kids under 3 years of age is a feat unto itself. I found myself juggling Lily, switching her from one arm to the next in the security line as I unlaced and took off each of my shoes, removed my jacket, belt, wallet, keys, cell phone and sunglasses. I was proud of myself for being so nimble, realizing that I was the spectacle for a dozen people to watch. I attempted to do all this and keep my ID and boarding pass in the other hand. Katie had the task of unloading Jacob from his stroller, along with Thomas the Tank engine backpack, portable DVD player, Handbag, food bag, Laptop case, baby blanket and 2 jackets. Unfortunately, the security line is only the beginning of the adventure in travelling with children..

At present, I'm writing this midway through our flight to Salt Lake City. Katie is in the middle of feeding Lily, and Jacob is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on his portable DVD player.. with these gigantic earphones over his head, to protect all of our fellow travellers from having to hear the raucous that Disney produces.

When it was the two of us, travel was so easy - on a whim. Grab a bag and go. Well, for the most part that's true.. although Katie does prepare more than I do. But, the simplicity was divine. Travelling with Jacob seemed so hard compared to when it was just the two of us. But, at least there were two of us, to tag team against one of him. Now, we're evenly matched and I can see how much more patience this requires - not only for us, but for everyone else around us. I remember being one of those passengers who would make a comment after the flight: 'How was your flight?'.. "It was great.. except that someone had a baby on the plane". Now I'm that father who has a baby on the plane and a toddler tagging along too.

You hope and pray that your kids don't have a meltdown, and that they spare themselves and everyone on the flight from listening to hours of crying. So far, so good. We've been switching Lily back and forth, trying different techniques to keep her amused. Feeding ,rocking, changing her.. whatever it takes to make her happy. Thankfully the portable DVD was invented, and Jacob is content to kickback and watch Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Life experience is a great way to learn empathy – empathy for those who travel with kids.

Just as a concluding note.. it took us over an hour to get out of the airport. It was an amazing lesson in patience.