Day 2,935

The Tale of the Cross Country Flight with Four Babes, One Mom

Take four kids on an airplane from one corner of the country to the other. 

Alone. 

Been there. 

Done that. 

And not only did I live to tell such a tale, 

I (we) did it with actually a reasonable amount of smiles. 

What is her secret, they ask?

Fly during nap time.

Doooooo iiiiiiit. 

Works (most) every time.. 

And should they need a little help dozing off, Zarbees makes a delicious little grape tasting melatonin candy that will have their little eyelids heavy in approximately 22 minutes. 

2 hour plane nap?

3 hour plane ride.

Uhm. Yes. 

No shame. 

The second 3 hour 45 minute flight?

1) Let your tiny baby do what they will - sorry mamas, no melatonin for these wee ones. Mostly, stick them in their carrier and they’ll sleep most of it. Otherwise, plastic airplane cups and pretzel sticks will keep them decently occupied for the time they’re awake. 

2) Since you took your first flight during nap time, your second flight will naturally be during supper time. A smoothie and a meal is a delightful expenditure of time. Usually. 

3) Fill a backpack for your “big kids” with new fun items from Target’s dollar aisle. Add in a few surprise little toys with lots of interesting pieces. And don’t be afraid of stickers, post it notes, bandaids, moldable foam, or sticky throwers. Trash is easy to clean up. A flailing toddler is not. 

4) Let the kids “help” the flight attendants pick up trash.  

5) During the last hour, a special treat in the form of a show is a reasonable and exciting option, especially if they’ve got a never-before-watched one already downloaded from home!

6) As the restlessness begins to set in, you’re already descending and you can tell them to try to find which light is Grandma down there!



And then, boom!

There she is!

Nearly seven hours on a plane wasn’t SO bad after all. 

Seriously? Seriously. 

But, do give me another year before I do it solo again.