Nervous was an understatement: I was so nervous had the shakes but instead of giving it all up to chance, I dove in two days before flying with this: agreements at family meeting over what they knew about the plane, how many people were going to be on it, what type of conversation do others want to hear from small children, who gets the window seat, what should we bring....
It went on and on and turned out to be a fantastic conversation with my kids about thinking about others while traveling, coming up with solutions when you least like to, being in small spaces with lots of people, and privileges and consequences.
The flight went more smoothly then I could have imaged. There was one time when I thought my husband was going to pop and I jumped in with the 1 year old in the front pack and asked the flight attended if he would speak to my child about which seat was hers. DONE. She sat in her own seat and gave him "thumbs up" every time he walked by.
Parenting On Track teaches me to be pro-active. I started doing that as a second grade teacher and ever since then being one step ahead of the kids with agreements or getting questions and concerns out of the way before the big "thing" happens is the best nugget I have learned through the program.
Here is the other thing I think about when flying with my 4,3 and 1 year old. My friend has 4 children. The oldest is now 5. She travels to New Zealand with her kids ALONE. I pretty much keep my mouth shut when I try to image that pre-flight feeling. WAY TO GO KIWI.
Now here is the real question: Can I manage all three on the way home ALONE? I know I can, but do I want to?
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