Surviving the Flight

I’ve been following along with so many of you that are getting ready to head to court and, ultimately, bring your kiddos home! I remember that feeling like it was yesterday. You start with the excitement, then comes the “goodness gracious what am I getting myself into and am I really ready for this” feeling and finally you are just ready and confident. There are so many things to think about during that time. For some it’s coordinating two trips for court/pick-up and for others it’s figuring out what to do for 3 weeks in Russia.

One of my biggest fears coming home was being trapped in an airplane with a screaming and unruly child for 9 hours. I knew I would be tired and so would Andrew which would magnify things. Andrew had so much energy (probably nervous energy) at the airport – I really thought we were doomed. We wound up with one meltdown and that was only because I didn’t understand that he wanted milk. Once he had his milk we were good to go.

I think I posted about this a while back (maybe) but figured it wouldn’t hurt to share our “strategy” for getting through the flight. Now, I’ve only done this once and it might have been beginners luck so don’t blame me if it doesn’t work! J

Things we brought to Russia:
A “Cars” backpack that we didn’t let Andrew see the entire time we were in Russia. We finally gave it to him once we got on the plane.
A sticker book
A Fisher Price kids iPod type thing (Thanks to Carey!)
A few cars
A few books

Once in Russia we realized that was not nearly enough to keep our son busy for 9 hours. We went to the children’s store on Novy Arbat and stocked up. From what I remember, we bought more stickers (dogs, trucks, birds, etc… things we knew he was interested in), foam puzzles, crayons and a coloring book.

Stickers on the tray table...

... and on daddy's face!

We also bought dried fruit, crackers, pretzels and I bought a box of baggies. I made small bags of each – probably packed about 10 - 15 small bags. We would only take one toy out of the bag at a time. Each time he got tired of it or appeared restless, back in the bag it went. By the time we got to the 8th toy, the 1st one was new again.

The biggest/longest lasting toy was the stickers. We did everything with stickers. Put them on the tray table, our nose, cheeks and chin. Put them on the seats, the headphones and on paper. Another big hit was simply the headphones and the plug. He would plug and unplug, plug and unplug. Some “toys” we didn’t think were toys wound up being a belt (he loved Keith’s belt) and our camera. Think about buying a toddler camera. There is something about gadgets that little kids love.

Andrew only slept about an hour the entire flight. Thankfully, he didn’t fuss a ton. The food kept his hands and mouth busy and regular trips to the potty allowed him to get up and exercise. Actually, one of his first “phrases” that he repeated back was “I gotcha!” I would balance him on the sink while I went to the bathroom (he didn’t have shoes on) and I would say over and over again “I gotcha” and he thought that was the funniest thing. I wish I was so easily amused!

Some other things that have gotten me out of potentially bad meltdown situations since being home – string, dental floss, a ribbon/bow, those little 3M page markers, sticky notes and paper balls. Andrew loves trying to tie things together (or untying things like bows) so anything like that has been a lifesaver.

You have no clue how excited I am for so many of you! I can’t wait to see pictures of your little ones and hear how your trip home went. Put lots of tricks in your bags because these kiddos are headstrong and want to explore everything. Most importantly, enjoy! This is an awesome time for you and your family so make the best of every moment!

Self Portrait (one of about 1,000)

Playing with daddy's belt

Plugging and unplugging

Hugs!

Becky