Fear of Flying

Well, it’s almost arrived — vacation time! I am in the middle of packing the “world’s most crap that will never be worn on one trip”. (Seriously, there should be an award for that.) Tonight I aim to eliminate some of it so I can actually bring some clothes for KC too. I suppose making her rotate two outfits the whole time would be very uncool.

We leave early tomorrow morning. Ted’s Dad will be driving us to the airport. By noon we should be in our rental car and driving a couple more hours to Duluth. (If Avis doesn’t have the car seat I asked for you will hear me yelling all the way in Virginia.) It will be a long day, but hopefully worth it. We’ll be gone for more than a week. It’s a MUCH needed vacation for Ted and I. The pressure to have fun is HUGE. Ted won’t stop saying how awesome it’s going to be, etc.

Dear God, this better be fun.

This also happens to be the first time KC has ever flown on a plane. I am nervous as hell. I don’t really know why exactly. She’s a really good kid. People find her cute and charming. However, those people are typically passing by at the grocery store. Not stuck in the seat in front of her, or trying to sleep in the seats behind us. I am certain she’ll be her usual adorable self, but she’s very “active” these days. She likes to walk and run and explore. She’s full of energy and she’s just young enough that telling her to sit still is kind of a joke. Of course we plan to have stuff to entertain her, but it’s always the stuff she can’t have or can’t do that seems to lure her. I have this fear of the “tantrum to end all tantrums” when we try desperately to make her understand that “you have to sit in this seat until the captain says it’s ok to get up.” Yeah! Right. Even then, I don’t really want to get up and let her pace the aisles. Pain. In. The. Butt. That sounds like.

I pray to the Gods of airline travel (I’m talking to YOU, Knome!) that she’ll SLEEEEEP. (“She always sleeps in the car!” she said in a slightly manic tone.) Thank goodness it’s not a very long flight. We have one layover and I personally think that is a good thing. More opportunity for her to run around in the terminal and tire herself out. We shall see. I’ll be offline until after July 4th. I will definitely come back with photos and (hopefully) stories about how amazingly good she was on the plane!

Wow, you should have seen her! They were so impressed they gave her “wings” and let her sit in the cockpit! “Best kid ever on a plane!” the crew said. “You two are model parents!” all the passengers exclaimed.

If not then hopefully there will be stories that, while horrifying for us, will at least be entertaining for you. Keep your fingers crossed for me.