Dena's Blog

Well, ladies, I survived my first airplane ride with my daughter Abi. It went so well- she fell asleep at take-off and didn't wake up until we arrived in Atlanta. Although it was a short flight, I do have some tips that made the trip sooo much easier:

a) RIDEONCARRYON.COM (Cannot stress this enough)
b) Snacks- if not for the flight itself, at least for when you're waiting to board the plane
c) fly at night- best possible option. Almost always empty seats and the chances are good that your child will fall asleep

Although the idea of flying to England with her is still extremely daunting, I have to say that this flight has helped put my mind at ease. Thanks to those who prayed me through it!

Hi again! For those of you who have read my previous blogs, you know that I have been preparing to get on an airplane with my toddler in June for a trip to England. Well, tomorrow I get a practice flight. I fly tomorrow night- just my daughter and myself- to Atlanta to see my parents, no husband included. The flight is barely an hour and a half, but of course I'm still paranoid. Today, feeling anxious, I found myself in Target buying out half of the snack section for the flight. I figure if I can keep her eating, I might actually get out alive. The best possible case scenario would be her falling asleep- but I'm not counting on it. As long as I have my endless supply of cheerios, goldfish, fruit snacks, and animal crackers, she might forget that she's tired. That's assuming, of course, that I don't stress eat my way through the flight and take all of her food for myself. I will let all of you know how this flight goes- and I guess we'll see how well prepared I am!

Yesterday I received my new ride-on-carry-on that I told everyone about in my previous blog. It's pretty cool, it fits perfectly on my carry on and it's really simple to use.
The only thing is- if your kid is on the younger side (my daughter is 14 months) their legs don't go all the way down to the bar at the bottom so they might get a little scared when you tip them up to roll your carry on. My solution to this- I'm putting my daughter in it everyday and rolling her around the house so she sees it as a game and a positive experience.
Anyhow, just thought I'd leave ya'll that info in case any of you decide to get one yourselves.

My daughter, Abi, is almost 14 months old. She's a little bit...how should I say this..."lively". You know the type. Even if you don't have one yourself, you've seen these children in Walmart, the mall, or some other public place. If you're not sure how to recognize them, just look for some haggard looking parent close by. Do you see that parent? That's me. It's nice to meet you. I have no excuse for my daughter or for myself- she loves to move around and get into things, and just trying to keep her out of things is exhausting. She's been like this since she could sit up, if you can believe it. Holding her still for longer than 5 minutes is nearly impossible. Scratch that. It is impossible. And as of yet, she has never been on an airplane- but on June 28th, there's no escaping it. We're not just talking about travelling a few hours to see Grandma, either. We're talking a 12+ hour journey to England for my sister-in-law's wedding.