Thinking of traveling with a toddler without your partner?

My advice is – don’t do it! Ok, my current situation has the added dimensions of my being 6 months pregnant and my toddler having just hit the psychological stage requiring him to say no to everything asked. I must admit that these two things greatly influence my recommendation above. And it is a hard recommendation, indeed, as I take pride in my independence and adventure and do not like the idea of my being homebound unless another adult assists with travel. In fact, my son and I have traveled multiple times by car and plane without the assistance of “daddy” and up to this stage its been fairly well managed.

So, the three of us get to the airport one bright shiny morning to find very long lines for check in. My son is not too keen on staying in his stroller as that is what we would like him to do, so A (my husband) decides to wait with us until we pass through security. We endure the lines of both check-in and security which requires one to keep line placement and the other to run after the toddler. Once arriving at the place where non-travelers are no longer welcomed, my husband and I switch baggage, i.e. things in my hand for wiggly toddler in his and say goodbye. Despite the long wait, things are going well until I need to put all of my items, many as they are, into the bins for x-ray. This requires getting my son out of the stroller and convincing him to take off his shoes. He is not happy about removing his shoes and proceeds to fight me on it while impatient on-lookers behind me await my success. At this very moment, amid the struggle and our personal items making their way to the x-ray machine, I realize that I’m missing my very essential bag – you know, the one with our TICKETS, my wallet and the all-important travel toys!! During the hand-off, “A” must have taken it. Sweat breaks out, panic takes hold and a quick mental deduction tells me that we will in fact be missing our plane scheduled to depart in 45 minutes. The two sympathetic men behind me (obviously fathers) calmly instruct me to leave the stroller by the wall and “RUN” to find my husband. I swoop up my son (who is ornery and crying at this point because he doesn’t want to take off his shoes) and bolt down the narrow terminal hallway cramped with security line passengers. Thankfully within seconds I see my husband running with lightening speed towards me. I grab the bag, a quick reassuring hug, a laugh and turn with everything in arms, including my son for security. We make it through and to our gate in time and I am relieved but very tired and a bit rattled.

We wanted to watch the planes take off for as long as possible and so decide to board last. Once on board, I realize one of our seats is filled. I let the attendant know this and within moments I hear over the intercom that the plane is overbooked and would anyone like to step off for a free plane ticket. Meanwhile, I stand next to the bathroom monitoring “the boy” as he runs up the aisles, deciding whether to laugh or cry. Of course by this time I think my husband is long gone in the car. I decide to laugh at the comedy of it all and luckily a nice man gets up and we are saved.

After some rearranging we take our seats and I am so relieved to sit down as both the weight of my son and my “in utero” 25 week old have taken their toll. All I want is a warm cup of coffee – but there is MUCH to do before that big payoff. We need to get ample toys out, have a chat about seatbelts and why one needs to stay in their seat for take-off, change a diaper in an airplane bathroom (toddler standing on toilet technique) and relieve myself while my son jumps around the 1 x 2 ft space in front of the toilet.

The coffee arrives and I am in heaven. It even tastes good – a benefit I was willing to forego. My son is happily playing with his cars in his window seat. I’ve got him boxed in, of course, in an effort to minimize the bother to the UPenn, extremely hungover, college student directly to my right. Ahhhhh the coffee is good and I am happy. But OH – all of the sudden my son has some sort of hormone surge and needs a hug immediately! He jumps up and leaps towards me screaming “hug, hug, hug”… I grab him as to comfort and his left foot comes swinging around, hits the coffee cup and the content flies all over my right arm and yes, you guessed it – the sleeping college student. Not good.

Now I could go on for a while but these are the funnier, in retrospect, events of our flight down to see Grandma. I’m not really recommending that you not travel with your two year old but I am saying that it’ll help to be psychologically prepared for the event. In the end it was truly worth it and a great time on the beach with family…...

I heart podcasting

These are the Podcasts I keep up to date on my iTunes.
They are all available from the iTunes directory.
To access each site directly, click on the hyperlinks below.

APM: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac
This podcast is updated everyday. In the first half Garrison Keillor talks about which famous writers are having a birthday today and a little bit about each. In the second half, he reads a poem. The Change, by Tony Hoagland represents exactly the sort of poem that keeps me tuned into this show.


Commonwealth Club Radio Program
Hear in depth discussions with speakers covering a range of timely topics. I’ve found I’ve gotten news from this source that isn’t widely available elsewhere.


NYTimes Front Page
If you only have a few minutes to keep up with the world a day, this is a great way to stay up to date.


Harvard Business Review Ideacast
Forward thinking business ideas. Fresh, innovative and well considered opinions. I’m often left thinking about the topic for well after the initial listen.


KCRW Today's Top Tune
A song a day. This is a great way to have a total change of pace from the rest of the day. Often this is the first thing I turn on when I come home from work. Breaks up the sameness.


Podrunner: Workout Music
Dance tracks for running. Not all are good but when they are good, they’re very good. I can run longer with this music than most anything else.

This American Life
#1 podcast for car trips. Hilarious, touching stories about people being people.


Radio Lab
Fascinating investigations into some of life’s most basic questions. My favorite so far: why we sleep.

YogaDownload.com
Best way to workout in a short window of time or in a hotel room.

Traveling with Lovies

If you have a child who has a security blanket, bear, lamb or the something similar, and you find yourself taking an airplane trip, here's a bit of good advice I got from a worn-out stewardess: put a luggage tag on the "Lovie". "You wouldn't believe how many get left behind and we have no way to get it to the family later on." You can use the freebies they give you at the counter. I sold the idea to my son by telling him it was our way of keeping Lamby safe. He liked that idea and didn't seem to mind the clumsy luggage label strapped to his beloved's leg.