Travelling with kids — “flying domestically with kids”

The thought of flying with kids, especially alone with them, brings shivers of fear through me. The idea of being cooped in confined spaces for hours on end with 3 kids usually with unlimited energy just freaks me out! A dear (and well travelled) best friend of mine once gave me the following advise “prepare yourself for the very worst of experiences and anything less is a delight". Whilst it may seem a negative stance for some, I have always lived by this statement.

There was one occasion that the flight did live up to being the very worst of experiences. I was travelling back from my grandfathers funeral with 2 little boys aged 5 months and a very busy 2 years old. The flight from Wellington to Wanaka had a stopover in Christchurch. The boys were both beside themselves. The boarding gate was down a huge walkway, well away from parent rooms, Cory was still breastfed and was fussy, hungry and needed changing, Ryan thought it was a fun game to wildly and repetitively run away through automatic doors. To get the situation under control I had to resort to holding Ryan down with an elbow, whilst changing Cory on the waiting area floor, with both boys screaming and me bursting into tears. Enough was enough. An angel came to my rescue, by the name of Suki Turner. Suki was Mayor of Dunedin at that time but more important for me, someone who understood how to assist a mother in distress. She took the 2 yr or away, amused him and helped me on and off the plane with him. At the end of the trip he delightfully skipped across the tarmac holding Suki's hand to my awaiting hubby gushing about how good a boy he'd been! hmmmm I definitely needed an alcoholic beverage to recover from that one!

I did learn a valuable lesson though. Since that situation, I would rather spend a little more on a direct flight if I have the opportunity, as now I avoid short stopovers as much as possible.

I have travelled considerably more times now and have met many more angels who take the initiative and time to smile, interact, play peekaboo and thoughtfully assist with hand luggage or help with my kids. I certainly take full responsibility for them but sometimes someone with a caring nature can relieve the boredom for the kids, can help make the trip go faster, and can just reduce the amount of stress a little and help you through the experience.

Seeing the kids at the end of the flight, rush forward delighted to hug their grandparents, precious aunties, best friends or their daddy on the return trip, sweetens the experience every time.