Leaving on a jet plane...

So Jen, Rebekah, and I are going to be going on a "vacation" this coming week. I put vacation in quotes because I don't know if it will really be a true vacation. A true vacation to me is one where I don't have to do anything, have no obligations, and can be myself. This "vacation" we will be traipsing around upstate New York going to a wedding, a graduation party, and visiting family and friends. In other words, being very, very busy especially since most of the family in NY has not met Rebekah yet. Now don't get me wrong, just because it's not a "real" vacation for me doesn't mean I won't have fun. In fact, I am sure I will have a lot of fun. I will enjoy the wedding, and the family, and the friends, and the graduation party. It's just that I doubt I will have any real time to just relax. In addition, we will have Rebekah to entertain while doing all these things. That's actually not that bad, but a toddler who is off her schedule (i.e. not eating or sleeping properly or at her normal times) will likely be very fussy, which doesn't make for a happy Daddy.



All of that is really minor compared to the impending airplane ride(s). I had no idea how difficult flying with a baby can be. I mean, we did go to Charleston on a plane with Rebekah, but she was only 6 months old, easy to entertain, slept the whole plane ride, and the total time on a plane was only 2 hours. When we go to NY the total plane time is going to be somewhere around 4 and a half hours! And she is not sleeping as easily, harder to entertain, and much, much older. I think keeping her amused will be the challenge part and we have a variety of hints and strategies we picked up from friends and websites we are going to try out. Some of these are things like giving her a new toy, using sticker/activity books, playing with pipe cleaners, and reading new books. Well, she LOVES to read (like her mommy and daddy), so that is one thing I am sure she will like. However, I have heard that giving her Benadryl would be easiest (so she will sleep, unless she has the opposite reaction, which would be bad, so a test dose is always prudent), but Jen isn't into drugging our child. I, on the other hand, am all for it. Whatever works easiest, I say. But I think Jen is going to win this one and we will have to make sure Bekah doesn't get bored and try out the multitude of entertainment strategies. And then we get to do all over again on the way back. Fun, fun, fun.



In addition to the actual plane ride, you have to make sure you have everything you need packed in the appropriate places. For me this means it's time to make lists. I am a list person; I like them, they keep me on track and they ensure I don't forget anything I thought to put on the list. Now if I forget to put something on the list, well that's out of my hands. So we will have a list of stuff that needs to go in the diaper bag, into the carry on bag, into the checked bags, etc. The list of lists seems infinite. Making sure we have all the clothing we need, toiletries, etc. is a full time job. Usually we wouldn't go to this extreme, but because airlines are charging per bag, we want only 1 bag each not including Rebekah. This entails much forcing of baggage closed, but it should be cheapest (as long as we aren't over the weight limit). We'll be carrying on some clothing (since I have such horrible luck with lost baggage) and all of the aforementioned entertainment equipment for Rebekah. If I'm not enough of a geek for you already, Jen and I are going to make an itinerary of where we need to go when. Not that we have to follow it, or that I'll be upset if we don't get to everything exactly on time or at all, but because we are seeing so many people at disparate times it will make sure we don't forget anyone or any appointments.

So as you can see, this is going to be quite an adventure. With the traveling, shlepping around a (possibly quite cranky) baby Rebekah, and general business of the week, you can understand my trepidation about calling this a real "vacation". I will definitely be looking forward to our other trip this summer (sans baby Rebekah) to Portland, Oregon in July which I can call as much of a vacation as I am likely to get any time soon. It will be nice to get away with Jen for sure though and go to my friend's wedding there. And yes, I know we are not the first parents to have to take a toddler on a flight, but it's our first time so cut me some slack. And this is my blog and I'll complain if I want to! :-) I will have Jen to lean on and she is the much more prepared one for this sort of thing, but I'd like to think we will have a learning experience. And isn't that what life's all about?