A Tale of Traveling with a Terribly Terrific Two Year Old

Oh, they joys of being a parent. Thankfully, I am a parent to a pretty terrific two year old. He is generally a well-mannered, polite, funny, talkative little boy. At 26 months, he has had the privilege of flying about 5-6 times already. He is an excellent traveler....napping on the plane, talking to the people beside/behind/in front of us....being an overall exceptionally well behaved 2 year old...

Fast Forward to yesterday...we had been in TX visiting family & friends (actually it was a trip to get Rick's braces off, but Connor & I were blessed to get to stay an extra week to visit!). We had flown in to TX as a family. Drove ALL over TX still with a VERY well behaved child...I mean, I would have been throwing a fit if I were strapped in that car seat for as long as this poor child was! So, Yesterday...we were dropped of at the airport, checked our bags quite easily, & went through security with ALL of our travel gear with a toddler with no qualms (well, except I for got to take the DVD player out of C's bag...Rick always handles this...Thank you Sweetie!) & very quickly I might add. We get into Houston's airport, find our gate at the very end and begin the long waiting period to board our plane. On the way to our gate we passed a small space shuttle and Connor asked to go see the 'rocket.' I left my mom with our stuff (yes, I was lucky enough that my mom got to fly back with us on our same flight...HUGE help...thanks mom!) and we walked back to see 'rocket.' Unfortunately for a two year old, you CAN NOT touch the 'rocket.' It has chains around it with signs that say "Do Not Touch." Difficult for my terrific 2 year old to understand...I mean, after all, why would they put this huge TOY in the middle of the airport and NOT let you touch it....So, THUS IT BEGINS...*Screaming* *Crying*
I simply could not reason with C that he could not play with this awesome 'toy.' He was SO loud I started doing what *every mom would do...I started bribing my child...prize, chocolate, treat....ANYTHING to get this terribly terrific 2 year old to stop crying.

We went and watched the airplanes for a while and the crying subsided....for a little bit anyhow...

That 'rocket' was just TOO close to our gate....it was ALWAYS in sight and ALWAYS on my terribly terrific 2 year olds mind....*REPEAT, REPEAT, Fast forward an hour*

Time to board the plane. My child willingly climbs into his stroller while we are lined up to board, we pick our seat (we now have to pay for him & of course he gets the window seat...love looking at the other airplanes, clouds, etc). We get settled in, put our seat belts on, and off we go...before we could take off, C falls asleep in my lap. I comment to my mom "I would much prefer that my child SCREAM in the large airport than in the CONFINED space of an airplane." Fast forward 45 minutes. C wakes up SCREAMING...bad dream I guess...he KEEPS SCREAMING...LOUDLY...I look at my watch...3:15...*you know it always seems like an eternity when your child is not behaving how you would like them too.

Continuous screams, uncontrollable, NOTHING helps...we walk to the back of the airplane and he stops....BRIEFLY....continued screaming, crying, etc. (all I can figure is his ears were bothering him since he fell asleep before we took off). As I am sitting there feeling like I am being JUDGED by everyone around me for being an 'unfit mother who CAN NOT control my child,' I begin to receive offers for help from the nice folks around me who want my child to BE QUIET. The lady behind me offers her cell phone (I had already tried that), a lady 3 rows back travelling with her hubby & 3 boys offers a sticker book...and she doesn't even want it back (Connor REFUSED that), the nice gentleman in front of me offered him blue gum instead of his green gum...he thought he may prefer a different color (NOPE). FINALLY, 25 MINUTES LATER, he stops....he finally chose to take my bribe of Hershey kisses & ate about 4 of them....and the rest of the trip was beautiful...although people STILL stared, glared, whispered to those beside them...etc. I mean really, he has NEVER done this, not on his previous 5-6 flights...he is genuinely a good little traveler...

We finally landed (take off & landing were the WORST I have EVER experienced...It was like a child was flying...). The lady behind me who had offered her cell phone during my terribly terrific 2 year olds scream fest leaned over the seat and proceeded to tell me that I am an amazing mom. She told me she was impressed by how patient I was and that when her kids were that small she would have opted out for handing them over to her mom and run (mom tried to help too...he just didn't even want his Lita...). She continued to tell me that I was doing a good job and to keep it up. I started tearing up...it was a long 25 minutes of screaming, I was humiliated, but I tried to keep my cool with Connor and tried to do anything to help my child. I am so thankful for the sweet lady behind me.

As a mom you certainly question yourself, your ability to be a mom, the way you handle tough situations, etc. I was refreshing after a torturous 25 minutes to be refreshed by a few words from a stranger.

So, this Entire Rant is to encourage you....If you are a mom...You are doing a great job. There are definitely TRYING times, but hang in there...

If you aren't a mom, DO NOT JUDGE...You may be there one day, and you will want others to encourage you.

So, planning the next trip with my terribly terrific 2 year old...until then....