This was my first flight with a baby by myself. I was scared. Super scared. What if he cries and bothers the ornery man sitting next to me? What if he poops on his clothes, throws up, doesn't sleep, won't sit in my lap? What if I can't carry all my stuff that I think I need for a flight? What do I do if I have to go to the bathroom, throw up, don't sleep??? The what if's were flying through my mind at the speed of light.
Rocky's cousin sent me some good advice and it basically boiled down to....who cares. If it happens it happens and it probably won't be the first time.
The what if's still flew through my mind at the speed of light.
Well the flight was long. I had help from my awesome neighbors who were also on the same flight. James wouldn't sit in my lap calmly but he was pretty good. I laid him under my feet so he would sleep...apparently my loving, soft, motherly arms aren't comfy enough for him. The flight attendant told me I shouldn't put him down there, but she did throw in the "you are the mom, so you know best" line. That made me feel a WHOLE lot better. Yeah right. I'm a first time mom and I don't feel like I know better. So I left him on the floor to sleep with my hand slightly hovered over him. That way if we hit any turbulence I would be able to save him.
Quick question: Did any of your mom's throw their arm in front of you if they had to break fast while driving or if they felt like the car and it's passengers were in danger of being hit? You know, so they could save your life....with their arm? My mom is an arm thrower-protector professional. I kind of felt like I was doing that.
When I said that the flight was long earlier....I really meant it was REALLY long. Especially when the pilot got on the PA and told us we only and an hour and twenty left of the flight and then 40 min. later got on the PA and said he made a mistake and we really had 2 hours and 40 left. I thought I was going to die right there on the plane.
I survived and was sooooooooo glad to see my dad, who was so anxious to see us that the security personnel at the airport asked him to stand back. He was getting a little too close to the do not cross line.
We made it!
This is a cute picture of James, it has nothing to do with this post. Just wanted to give the post a little more color.
3 comments:
Got to love flying with kiddos! I don't stress about it at all anymore, but those first couple times I was a nut job. But you are right...it all comes down to 'who cares?' No matter how bad it is it will only be a few long hours and then all will be well in the world again :) Glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been for you. And yes, my mom always did the arm thing and I think I already do it too!
If it makes you feel any better about putting James under the seat, on our flight to WA I got yelled at by the stewardess for putting Lucy in the empty seat next to me. She asked how old Lucy was, I told her 16 months and she said I'd need to hold her on my lap. We weren't moving, so I assumed that meant during takeoff. The other stewardess came back a few minutes later and asked if I'd bought the seat for Lucy. I replied no, and she said (in a tone implying I was one of the world's worst mothers), "She told you, now I"M telling you that you have to hold your baby. You are her seatbelt." I felt like crying, but a little miffed at the same time since I wasn't trying to endanger my daughter, we were just sitting on the tarmac. Needless to say for the rest of the flight I kept my nose clean.
As the guy in the seat next to me put it, the best part of flying is landing. :)
See I knew you could do it!! I'm glad you had a nice stewardess who let you put him on the floor. I always do that too, but I tend to get yelled at so I've started hiding my babies behind feet or under blankets when anyone walks by :P I'm such a bad mom ;)
And yes, you do know best. There will be times you over react and probably times when you under react, but I guarantee no one will ever love your children or want them safe more than you do (except maybe Rocky). You'll think of and be inspired with things that no one else will be or can be. Trust that. It's real and it works.
Love your family picture at the top of the blog by the way!! Beautiful. Your hair is really, really pretty long.
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