For "Notes for parents/carers traveling with (one-year-old babies" scroll to the bottom.
Just like that, we are back in the Chicago suburbs. Well, not "just like that." It took two cars, two planes, one stroller, and our own weary feet to transport the three of us to the other side of the world. It took 28 hours to leave behind our first international Mosiman home, the shining Sydney harbor, our favorite rocky beaches and the massive fig trees that reminded us of Jurassic Park. It took 15 hours to fly over the moonlit abyss that I trust was the Pacific ocean and land on American soil, greeted by a portrait of a man they say is our president. It took one hour into our trip to realize Sam was not going to be an easy travel companion.
On his 364th day of life, Sammy's parents trapped him in a two-by-four-foot rectangle and fed him an endless diet of cheesy rice puffs and ginger biscuits, then made him lie down on a makeshift bed by their feet for hours. Sam was not impressed by this situation. We received no compliments about our "good baby", but we knew he was good. He made it through. Sam slept a total of three hours. He laughed with me when we snuck into the business class bathroom (twice) to throw tissues in the air for a ten minute respite. He snuggled with me for up to five seconds at a time and learned to put a lid correctly onto a container. He watched fellow travelers through the gap in my Ergobaby carrier and did not use screaming as his primary form of communication. I thought that was big of him.
Mosi and I made it through the sideways glares from flight attendants, the near-constant whining from our unsettled almost-toddler who broke our hearts with his crying but never our spirits, and an unfortunate number of wakeful hours. I had the opportunity to once again learn how calm my husband stays when his present is a nonliteral gas explosion, and how I, essentially, do not. No need to go into the details, but on one occasion, Mosi rocked Sam for a combined four hundred hours and stayed calm as both his legs fell entirely asleep. He never moved for fear of waking our finally sleeping child.
Many people prayed for a smooth flight for us, and I think God took that as literally as possible because the flights were, indeed, without turbulence even as our internal selves were smashing bottles and crying in the galley. Safe and sound. In reality, I am thankful for the ways God showed up: our friends shivered heartily through a freezing cold birthday/going away party and gave us the most thoughtful gifts; our dear Irish friends gave us a staycation in their house by the beach right before we left so that we could have an easy time getting to the airport (and they drove us!); we got the bulkhead/bassinet seats against all odds, and for free; no one ever caught me going into the business class bathroom and it was always clean; all three of us were in good health on our way out and made it across the world without getting sick; we were met by Mosi's parents and my best friend at O'Hare airport, with signs and homemade cookies, ready to hug and unburden us.
It is good to be on solid ground and over jet-lag. It is good to be surrounded by friends and family who want to babysit Sam. It is good to breathe in the humid green grass, prairie flowers and maple leaves that smell like childhood. I will forever remember our first year as a family of three in a new foreign city that welcomed us with open arms. As soon as Sam can watch a movie on a plane, we will return for a visit.
Notes for parents/carers traveling with babies
If you are a parent or carer going on your first long-haul flight with a one-year-old, I cannot help you get through it, but I can give you a few pointers:
Find that inner strength and pray to the Lord that, though you may cry and lament, you keep your sh*+ together because the hours do pass, and you will make it back on solid ground, and you will sleep again.
Let people be kind to you; accept help. Do not assume everyone loathes you. Many people have done this before and appreciate how difficult it is and how hard you are trying.
For those who treat you as an inconvenience, pay no mind. Do not apologize for your gorgeous uncomfortable child.
Ask for more than you are given. Feel free to beg the airline workers for that bulkhead/bassinet seat. Crying definitely helps. Humility and gratefulness also help.
Sneak into the business class bathrooms (points if you can get into the first class ones!).
Bring a few new toys. Window decals, containers with lids, stacking cups, shiny things, toys with light up buttons or jack-in-the-box type surprise toys, lift-the-flap books.
It was so hard for Sam to sleep in anything except the Ergobaby carrier and in our stroller when waiting at airports. BYO!
Bring snacks for that child. Airlines seem to think razor-sharp chips and pretzels appropriate snacks for all. I got an assortment of snacks from Little Bellies and the Rafferty's Garden 12 Months+ food line. They are non-liquids, some savory and some sweet; they were easy to get through security and not messy on the plane. Sam did not eat much food on the plane (what they give you is super salty), so it was good to have some easy, familiar food to give him, even it it was not the most filling or nutritious.
If you have a partner, take turns sleeping when possible. Shiftwork, guys. We both slept at least 2/28 hours by looking after Sam in shifts. Could have done this better.
Laugh as your extreme tiredness turns to slap-happiness. Live into the absurdity and laugh till you cry. It helps heaps!
Notes for Ordinary people traveling around babies
If you learn one thing from this post, please be overly nice to people traveling with babies. No, they are not bad parents and their child is not doing this to you on purpose. They are doing their best and they do not have to apologize to you. Watch your movies and smile at them. Maybe even let them use your tray table to place their drink. It is a feat to eat while holding a baby on your lap.
If a single mom or dad has a kid with them and you have some extra energy and are feeling filled with the Holy Spirit, offer to carry/walk their child around while they use the bathroom. Those bathrooms are impossible to use while holding a baby.
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