We started out Friday morning pretty clueless. It was our first time to relocate. It was Finn's first time to fly;therefore our first time to travel in the air with a child. We had no idea what to expect from the trip. We also had no idea what our new home would be like. We did all the "house hunting" online. Did we think we had found a tall, dark, and handsome 20-something only to show up and realize it was a short, pale, and not so handsome 50 year old? We also had exactly 4 days to prepare for a move after coming off a 12 day California vacation. This had its perks. Doing so much laundry from the trip lead to throwing clothes into a bag once they dried instead of hanging them up. It also helped us with the idea of flying. Neither Tosh or myself particularly likes flying. At first, we were going to drive. On the road trip back from California we both knew if we had to make a 4 day trek to the other side of the country via car we might strangle each other. Joking, but really we knew it would not be good for Finn to be trapped in a car seat that long.
Packing for the trip was a confusing task. Three months is just long enough to feel like you need a lot of stuff but not long enough to know just how much. After discussing the trip with a friend, I made a last minute mention to Tosh that we could ship a few things. He, knowing that he would have to lug all of these many suitcases around the airport, thought this was a great plan. We shipped 2 suitcases....sort of blindly. We might should have looked through them. There are a few things I would like to have before next Thursday but it is no big deal.
My father-in-law took us to the airport. Our flight had been delayed so he was able to play with Finn. I think this helped a lot with the process. We were able to sit down and eat breakfast, let Finn run wild, and get ready to get aboard.
Going through security was sort of hilarious. Our bags went through x-ray. All was well until they got to Finn's blue-animal inspired riding suitcase. They said they had to open it and search it. Once she popped it open I started to think maybe I should have considered what I was putting in his carry-on. Fake knives, toy bottles of water, and a toy drill. Okay security. Good work! They cleared us to take all our toy "not approved items" and it was no big deal.
Tosh and I had seats assigned right next to each other. Finn was somewhere else. We informed the airline that we would at least like to meet the people our son would be traveling with. Not really, Tosh got it arranged for me to sit with Finn and him to sit elsewhere. Such a selfless act on his part.
My expectation was that we would get on board, I would be terrified, Tosh would be on the other end of the plane asleep, and Finn would be screaming "ALL DONE" or "GEORGE!!!" Much to my satisfaction this did not happen. I wasn't scared. Tosh got seated next to a talker. I could hear him getting chatted up the entire time. I know that Tosh's eyelids absolutely cannot stay open on a plane ; however, the lady was very nice and I think he secretly enjoyed getting to tell her where he would be working. Finn and I did great. I slowly pulled out new items from his backpack to keep him entertained. He wasn't scared. He fell asleep about half way through. He has a mild case of Tosh's plane induced narcolepsy.
To back track a bit...We were last to board. This means we had a plane full of people staring us down like we had the plague. Here we come with entirely too much baggage, a huge car seat, and everyone's worst fear on a plane...a toddler. I am pretty sure I instantly started sweating. I also kind of froze up and stood there like a boob while Tosh tried to squeeze our bags in an overhead bin and connect the car seat. Honestly that whole part is a blur. The flight attendant had to take some of our baggage and put it in her storage and then informed us how we had too much luggage and that one day the airlines would really make us pay for having so much excessive luggage. She did it in way that was nice or not as obnoxious as that sounds.
Once we were settled, which was probably 3 minutes but felt like 3 hours, everyone seemed to be relieved. After the plane landed, all those mean mugs I saw getting on the plane walked by giving me and Finn a half apologetic and surprised smile as we set there patiently waiting on every last person to get off the plane. See my child didn't ruin your flight. I kind of wanted to stick my tongue out at all of them. Except for Tosh's seat mate. She was kind.
Since our first flight was delayed, making our connection was going to be tough. We had only a few minutes to make it from point A to point B in Houston airport. Not to mention carry Finn, the car seat, the stroller, and 7 bags. Did we make it??????
No comments:
Post a Comment