Ben's First Flights

Ben’s first time flying went great. For a little while. See a picture of the peaceful times, one the calm before the storm, here.

We took off from Tulsa without any trouble. The plan was for us to leave his stroller right outside the plan door for the crew to load in the belly of the beast.

We didn’t know until we got to the pre-board area (nice benefit for parents of children under four) that our plane would stop first in Kansas City, trade out some passengers, and then continue to Chicago. We were to change planes there and complete our trip to Baltimore. Seems like a lot of steps just to get to the next time zone.

Ben did great on the first two flights (both on the same play, with a stop in Kansas City), and the strategy of pulling out toys he had never seen before worked very well. Thanks to Ben’s Aunt ‘Manda for that suggestion. The pretzels from the flight attendant helped, too. Ben loves him some pretzels.

Unfortunately, Ben self-destructed on the last leg. I ended up loading our secret weapon – The Little People DVD – into my laptop. That mesmerized him for a while, but then his ears started bothering him during the pressure changes. Up to that point, he had been sitting snugly fastened into his toddler car seat. He wailed and cried, “Ears, ears,” and “Help! Help!” Those of you who have heard Ben cry know how loud he is compared to most children. I don’t just say that because he’s our child and I hate to hear him suffer. He’s just plain loud.

Shannon was stressed that he would bother other travelers. I’m sure he bothered some of them, and I’m sure they’ll know exactly how ridiculous they were being if they ever have children of their own.

Finally, after Shannon had taken a turn at holding him, he fell asleep in my arms. He had been up for about 10 hours without a nap, and that spells trouble for almost any two-year-old who doesn’t know how to make his or her ears pop. He slept as I carried him off the plane, while we waited for his stroller (which we loaded down with our carry-ons), while we waited at baggage claim, and on most of the 40-minute drive to Shannon’s dad and stepmother’s house. I don’t know why I’m not using their names. Privacy, I guess?

The flying day took about 6 hours, including an hour and a half to eat and walk around in Chicago’s Midway airport. Even that was not very relaxing, because the Potbelly’s sandwich shop was crowded and playing music loud enough that Shannon and I had trouble hearing each other. Man, that makes me sound old. Also, Ben wouldn’t touch the $5 peanut butter and jelly sandwich we bought him. He ate some kind of sesame crackers from our snack bag instead.

At the end of the night, though, we agreed that Ben did great, and the in-laws smiled as Ben played with the toys they already had at their house. I sit in bed in the Key West room of their home, Ben sleeping soundly in the next room, and Shannon doing the same right beside me. Tomorrow, off to the beach!