Christmas Vacation: Flights
Ahhhh... flying with kids. There are many, many posts written by bloggers out there with tips and tricks. I asked friends for tips. I read those posts. But most of those probably don't have a special needs kid who doesn't walk and has sensory issues. I read those posts. I prepared my diaper bag. Will and I had lengthy "what if" and how to prepare conversations. But the flight TO the south was awful. TSA check was awful. Israel screamed for a long time. It was just awful awful awful. I think we all cried at various points. (We flew out of Newark btw and I hear that Newark is just bad news anyways).
Will and Edith sat together and she did pretty well for herself. She stayed pretty entertained but did get bored by the end.
Israel actually slept for a little bit but when he wasn't asleep, he was screaming. And hitting me in the face.
The trek home was different. We drove to Charlotte and stayed with my sister, who lives only 30 minutes from the airport where we were able to drop off our rental car at a park and ride.
We mentally prepared for the same on the flight home (which was EARLY EARLY from Charlotte) but the kids were a million times better. The whole experience was better. Southern TSA workers are so friendly and helpful. We checked our carseats with our main luggage this time instead of carting it through the airport.
We kept the kids in PJs, let them act crazy and roam/scoot around in the terminal, and then fed them an inappropriate amount of fruit snacks on the flight. But, we survived. No major fits. No crying. Hallelujah and Merry Christmas.
So my tips? Read the many blogs out there from people with typical developing kids and pretend like their advice will do something for you. If you have a special needs, sensory kid... good luck and plan for a break when you land. Get a babysitter, go to the warm welcoming arms of grandparents who have cooked you a fresh meal and are willing to let you go to bed at 8pm.
We don't anticipate flying again anytime soon but at least now we know what to expect!
I feel your pain! I flew from Ukraine to the US with both kids by myself. It was horrible!!! It was no doubt the most difficult day of my life. Katya did great but Brody did terrible the whole time. A lady made a remark at the end..."oh, is he the baby that was crying the whole flight". Oh, if she only knew how difficult it is flying with young kids. Brody can't sit still for 1 minute so 14+ hours of flight time was absolute torture for him. Needless to say we won't be flying anytime soon again.
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