{"id":20732,"date":"2012-08-19T00:06:24","date_gmt":"2012-08-19T07:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=20732"},"modified":"2012-08-19T00:06:24","modified_gmt":"2012-08-19T07:06:24","slug":"national-aviation-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/20732","title":{"rendered":"National Aviation Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tHappy National Aviation Day!! While we aren\u2019t celebrating the holiday in the air this year, we have\u00a0<\/em>spent a fair amount of time up there recently. And traveling is no longer a low-stress event\u2014delays, canceled flights, lost luggage …<\/p>\n

I have an entirely new appreciation for my parents getting me out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to board a plane and fly across the country.\u00a0 Now that I know\u00a0what it entails, I have a few pointers I’ve picked up along the way …<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In that moment when someone behind me says, as I exit the plane, \u201cYour girls were SO good!\u201d\u00a0I know I\u2019m onto something. We started them young. Stella\u2019s first flight was when she was only four months old, and we flew to North Carolina from Idaho.\u00a0Mia was just\u00a0two months old when we flew to Boston from Idaho.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s my list.\u00a0 Somehow, the smallest person has the longest list and the most luggage:)<\/p>\n

1. Decide to remain positive.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s important. It also matters leading up to your trip. As with anything, when you stress out, your kids stress out too.<\/p>\n

2. Pack well in advance<\/strong>.\u00a0 My kids love to help with this, and it\u2019s pretty cute. Kids love to count out seven days of underwear and socks …\u00a0oh, and don\u2019t forget two pairs of jammies!<\/p>\n

3. Check most of your luggage.<\/strong> I know it costs more, but it\u2019s really helpful to have your hands free when traveling with kids.<\/p>\n

4. Pack a change of clothes in a carry-on (and diapers, if you need them<\/strong>).\u00a0There have been many times I\u2019ve been glad I brought a spare in my carry-on\u00a0…\u00a0for me and my kiddos.<\/p>\n

5. Buy them small carry-ons.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s important for them to get the hang of carrying their own weight, but they won\u2019t if their bags are too heavy.\u00a0 Start out with tiny bags.<\/p>\n

6. Plan for their little ears.<\/strong> We use EarPlanes<\/a>. They eliminate ear pain during take-off and landing. These are also great times to have a snack or gum if they are old enough, or to nurse\/have a bottle if they\u2019re young enough. It keeps their ears from building up pressure.<\/p>\n

7. Pack lots to do\u00a0and distract during the flight. <\/strong>We always bring coloring books and stickers. We pack a few of their special toys and encourage them to choose a stuffed animal, as it doubles as a pillow. Sometimes we include a new toy to occupy them.<\/p>\n

8. Packs lots to eat.<\/strong> This is a great time filler, and it helps with crankiness. But avoid the sugar. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

9. Show them how it all works.<\/strong> Tell them about where their luggage goes, what the flight attendant\u2019s job is, where the pilot sits, etc. It\u2019s interesting! Let them own it. My oldest now insists on getting everything into the carry-on security bin herself. She loves this part! She acts as if she\u2019s traveling alone. It has put many a smile on those somber security faces.<\/p>\n

10. Keep them in their seats. <\/strong>We started this as soon as they could crawl, and it\u2019s much nicer for us, as we aren\u2019t chasing them back and forth the whole flight. Most flights nowadays ask that you keep your seat belts on and stay seated for most of the flight anyway.\u00a0Our kids think it\u2019s the same rule that applies to being in a car\u2014belted at all times, except to use the restroom.<\/p>\n

11. Enjoy their company!<\/strong> It\u2019s one of the only times you get to sit with your child for hours and just be<\/em>. Play games, tickle them, tell stories, sing songs.\u00a0They\u2019ll LOVE flying. My girls sure do.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy National Aviation Day!! While we aren\u2019t celebrating the holiday in the air this year, we have\u00a0spent a fair amount of time up there recently. And traveling is no longer a low-stress event\u2014delays, canceled flights, lost luggage … I have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[579,621,846],"class_list":["post-20732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geography","tag-mia","tag-national-aviation-day","tag-stellajane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}