What has been one of your worst experiences traveling with your young kids? Traveling always comes with unexpected events–car sickness, long layovers, rude people, bags left or lost, hours backed up traffic, earaches. We’ve all been there!
Share your story so we can all have a little laugh now, and in the future, remember that next time of these experiences happen to us, we can smile a little and know that we’ll get through it {hopefully with a little more patience and some ideas to handle them!}
Here’s my worst experience:
We had just gotten on a red eye flight from Anchorage to DFW after visiting family. For the first hour and a half, my two year old screams and cries because she is exhausted {when she’s tired, she just needs to be placed in her bed to go to sleep}. I try all the usuals to get her to fall asleep, but nothing has worked yet.
During this time, we keep getting DEATH STARES from the couple in front of us. Finally, after we can’t ignore the evil eyes anymore, my husband asks them if they have a problem. The woman gets extremely upset, saying how inconvenienced they have been and how they didn’t pay for this {we were in coach…}. My husband says, “I’m sorry, she is just so tired. It’s not like we can throw her off the plane or something.” The woman responds, “Well, that might be a good idea!” {Shock then completely registers on my face.} The stewardess comes over and the woman again repeats her “we didn’t pay for this.” The stewardess backs us up and asks the lady to calm down and have patience.
I decide this is a good time to try roaming the aisle again and the stewardess invites me to come stand in the back awhile and see if that helps. As I am standing there, holding my daughter and swaying while she rests her head on my shoulder, the stewardess asks my daughter if she’d like some apple juice. My daughter immediately stops her crying, suddenly puts up her head, and whimpers “Yes.” We get the apple juice and some crackers. My daughter then lays her head down again and drifts off very quickly. How I could have kissed that stewardess! We only get a few dirty looks after that from the couple, but we are mostly left alone. They definitely hurry off the plane as soon as we land 
"I'm happy now mom, but you don't know what I have in store for you on the red eye flight!"
Things I learned from this trip:
1. A stewardess can be amazing. They see so many small children flying that they have good tips to give. Win them on your side by letting them know you value their ideas and what they do.
2. I will never ever be grumpy about another child crying next to me on a plane. In fact, I will do anything I can to help the mom, even if it is only to say, “I’ve been there! You’ll get through it and it will be okay.”
3. Try various ways to get your child to sleep. Sometimes a different way will work for a new situation.
4. Find something to interrupt the crying–a break, music, snack, or book. Then, try your usual techniques to get your child to sleep.
5. Keep your attitude up. If you get really frustrated, your thinking gets muddled and you can’t help your child with your “best self.”
Let’s hear it! Help your fellow moms out there so we can all laugh, learn, and support each other…
Update: Please read Part 2 for more stories!
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Traveling by my self with two little ones (3 and 1)and I was pregnant with the third. One of my children were potty training so we had to make frequent stops to go potty. I had the kids in their footed p.j.’s and so I decided to carry them into the gas station so they didn’t get their p.j. feet dirty. The gas station floor had just been mopped but not a single sign posted to say so. Down I went, Crash bang. The kids were all okay but I was pretty banged up.
Thank you for sharing Allison! You gave a good visual, and I am so sorry you were pregnant as well when that happened. Glad kiddos were ok. I’ve actually had a major slip like that also, holding little ones and running into a Walmart during a rainstorm.
I received stories from readers a different way…watch for a future post with these!
When my son (related to Cheri) was three, we were on a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria Canada. The cars were sandwiched in tightly and they told us to turn our rental car off and leave the vehicle to go to the upper deck. My son was in the back seat and proceeded to unbuckle himself and swing the car door open into the car next to us about six inches away. It was a brand new Audi and the couple was still in the car! The man got out yelling until he saw how sorry my son was and how apologetic we were (and his wife calmed him down). It left a big dent on his car and we gave him all of our information to pay for the damages but we never heard anything from him. I guess he felt bad for screaming at a three year old. To this day, our 20 year old opens car doors very slowly and always looks before he gets out.
Thanks for your post Kevin. Poor little boy!
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