Rolling with the punches Part 2

A happy Sunday morning here in the UAE. Livi is back at nursery and Baby Ben is fast asleep taking his morning nap. So here I am again utilising this quiet time as my precious 'me time'. Last week, I talked all about the 'not so fun' moments of traveling and while I like to stay positive, it is nice to recognize the more difficult experiences as well because life is never perfect.

Here is part 2 of rolling with the punches while traveling.

After 3 years experience of traveling with little ones, I am definitely more relaxed and less worried about certain things and what people think. Here are some examples:

When we are waiting to board an airplane, I let Livi run wild. I let Ben crawl all over the airport floor. I let them get their energy out. Do I get weird looks? Yes. Do I get comments like, 'the floor is so dirty, he should not be crawling on it or she should have her socks and shoes on.' Yes I do. I just respond, "They are great. A little dirt never hurt anyone." I smile and they carry on. I can't let nit picky comments get to me anymore because what we do, works for us. As long as the kids are happy, I am happy. I don't think I thought this way at the beginning. I was always aware and concerned of what others thought. Over the years, I realized, I just can't be. I need to do what works for us.

On my very first flight EVER with 2 babies, I had to roll with a lot of punches haha. Livi was almost 3 and Ben was only 3 months old. It was still so hot in the UAE and we weren't able to go back to the States for the summer because Ben had just been born. Once we got Ben's passport, I booked a flight to Idaho to be with my family for a month. It was an opportunity to see everyone, get out of the heat and come back feeling refreshed and to a cooler, more bearable UAE. I mentally had to prepare for this trip haha. I am physically strong, but I mentally needed to be strong and prepared and positive. And I did just that.

The flight was 14 1/2 hours. Livi had her own seat, I held Ben and we sat next to THE NICEST MAN IN THE UNIVERSE. As soon as we found our seats, I looked at this man sitting next to the window and said, "I'm sorry." He looked at me and said, "No no, I absolutely love kids." Without this man, my flight would have been a lot harder than it was. Livi was wonderful and kept herself entertained but she wanted to look out the window and she climbed all over this poor man. She tapped on his T.V. screen, she wanted to share his headphones. He was so patient and so kind and let her do all of these things. If I had to use the bathroom or change a nappy/diaper he would keep an eye on one of the kids- always with a smile on his face. I went a whole 14 1/2 hours without eating because I just couldn't- my hands were completely full (part of my mental preparation was knowing that would be the case) and I just kept dreaming of eating a MASSIVE burger once we landed.

While my incredible new friend was an AMAZING help, the flight had a few challenges. When livi gets on the airplane, we immediately make her comfortable, which means taking off her shoes (she doesn't like wearing shoes) so when we would go to the toilet, she would obviously just be wearing her socks. I had a very judgemental cabin crew tell me that it was ridiculous she wasn't wearing shoes and I should immediately go back to my seat and put her shoes on. I looked at him and said, 'No, we're good.' and proceeded to bring her to the toilet.

Towards the end of the flight, I needed one of Ben's bottles rinsed out. Remember, as I wrote in the last post, I always bring as many bottles that can fit in my bag, already filled with the right amount of water. About 2 hours before landing, we had used all the bottles. I wanted to have one ready to go for Ben for landing. Having been cabin crew before, I know that there is a machine that pours out boiling hot water which would at least get most of the germs out of my son's bottle. I went to the back and asked the cabin crew if they could rinse it out for me. They said, "We don't do that. Wash it out in the bathroom sink."

Knowing full well that they can do it, I should have said something because next to the sink water it says "do not drink". I should have said, "you want me to wash out my 3 month old son's bottle with water that you have a sign saying "do not drink this water"? But I said nothing. Again, I had to be fast because the poor man was watching both of my babies while I was trying to get a bottle ready for Ben.

Having been cabin crew, I know how draining and trying the job can be. The cabin crew might have had 5 other mothers ask them the same thing right before I did and they might have been annoyed and needing to prioritise other jobs. But, it still hurts to hear someone pretty much say they don't want to help you.

To rub salt in the wound, there was a LONG line for the toilets. I asked the next person in line if it was ok if I quickly washed out my sons bottle. She looked so irritated but shook her head ok while rolling her eyes. I kept the door propped open with my foot so everyone could see that I was just simply washing the bottle and I still heard her say to everyone waiting, "What is the point of having a line, if someone isn't going to line up." :( I shook it off and proceeded to go back and ask cabin crew to fill the bottle up with water. Nobody moved. Nobody said anything. they just sat there. I offered to help myself, "is there a bottle of water anywhere and I can just fill it up myself?" Just as I asked this, a very sweet cabin crew had just come to the back galley and said, "I'll do it love." I said "thank you so much" she replied, "whatever you need, I'm happy to help." She said this with the biggest smile! She was so nice and lovely and instead of making me feel like the BIGGEST annoyance ever, she made me feel welcome. That helped me shake off the prior comments and actions that were made.

Once we landed, I was so happy. My Mom was meeting me in Seattle. We were going to stay the night there and then head to Idaho together the next day.

Once on the ground, I put Ben in the carrier. I put my back pack on and held Livi's hand. I had asked when we boarded, that our stroller be waiting for us once we got off the airplane. However, when I asked ground staff where our stroller was, they said, "pick it up in baggage claim." Livi girl had to walk :( I made it exciting by saying "Let's race." or "can't catch me." It was all well and good until we got to passport control, where there was a security man stopping us saying we couldn't proceed yet because the line was already backed up. This is where the kids broke down. Livi had a full on temper tantrum- on the floor kicking and crying (she was SOOOO TIRED) and that probably set off Ben and he was crying in my arms. And we were at a stand still with EVERYONE looking at us. I was trying to calm Livi down but it wasn't working and I was doing the common mom movement of bobbing up and down to try to sooth Ben and that wasn't working. So while everyone was was looking at me, I laughed and said "We are all having a nervous break down." and it broke the ice and everyone laughed with us and said that the kids were both doing what they wanted to do and how amazing I was at how I was handling it. I had multiple people tell me how impressed they were and how patient I was. It was so so so nice to hear those words. There was no judgement. There was understanding and support! It filled my heart and made my day. Little comments like that, go such a long way. So thank you to those strangers. :)

To go back to my wonderful new friend who sat with us on the plane- He was coming back from a quick business trip and hadn't checked any bags so he could have just gone home. But he proceeded to follow me to baggage claim. I said, "Oh sir, you don't need to help. You have done so much already." He replied, "I'm making sure you get to your Mom safely." He helped me get all of my bags. I pushed my stroller and he pushed the cart with my luggage all the way to my Mom! I gave him the biggest hug when we parted ways.

I know he will never read this and we didn't even get each other's names, but I will never forget how kind he was during that entire trip. I will never forget how patient and willing to help he was. I will forever be grateful to him and his genuine heart. To others it might seem like a small favor, but to me, it was HUGE!

While there can be rude people in this world, people who will go out of their way to let you know they think you are making a mistake or put you down. There are also kind, warm hearted, patient, loving strangers, who become friends and who go out of their way to make your day wonderful. I hold onto them and how they make me feel. So anytime I travel and have a negative comment thrown my way, I know that just around the corner, is a sincere person, ready to throw a beautiful comment my way! Hold onto those, shrug off the rest :)

HAPPY TRAVELS XOXO