Living away from family is so hard. I can go a pretty long time being homesick and missing my family but soon enough it gets to be too much and I cave and do something crazy.
Like fly home alone with two toddlers kind of crazy. It wasn't really an option to me. I missed my family, my cute cousin was getting married and I had to be there. So i googled. And panicked. And fretted.
I was so anxious to fly alone with both of my kids and google wasn't all that helpful in finding ways to manage it with a semblance of sanity. So now that I'm out on the other side I wanted to share a few traveling tips in the hopes that someone down the road will read this and feel a little less scared.
So, here we go!
- Pack Early: This one is huge for me. I think the most stressful thing about traveling with kids, especially tiny just out of the baby stage kids, is packing. Kids need SO MANY THINGS! A billion outfits, multiple pairs of shoes, toys galore, that random thing they found in the backseat that they're now incredibly attached to, food, ALL THE THINGS, GUYS! So to make this whole process easier I decided to start packing three days before we left. Yeah, three days. I know that seems excessive but it was so heavenly! I was able to pack carry-on's and suitcases with ample time to make sure I got everything we would need. I even made lists of things to pack and marked them off as I put them into their case- it took away so much stress! By the morning we left I knew I had everything we would need and didn't have to rush around making sure i didn't forget anything.
- Throw all food related rules out the window: I'm pretty intense about what my kids eat. Their meals are usually healthy and we don't even buy junky snacks. I can't handle sugared up kids, so it's for my own sanity really. But when we travel the granola and the organic animal crackers go out the window with any rules I have about their diets. Fruit snacks? Sure, bring a whole box. Suckers? Have ten! I. Do. Not. Care. I want my sanity and everyone who's stuck on the flying metal tube with us for hours on end in tact. So we always buy a handful of snacks that we never do normally so they're exciting and new. Food goes a long way to keep kids quiet and happy. We do bring some of our normal snackage, too but if they only eat those paw patrol fruit snacks for the hour we're on the plane, I'm totally fine with that. Bribe, bribe, bribe.
- Tablets are your bestie: Luckily Thatcher is old enough to want to watch TV all the time. Normally this is kind of annoying because I have to constantly explain WHY we can't be in front of the TV 24 hours a day but when we're traveling I thank the tiny toddler tv gods that he's willing to watch PJ Masks for two hours. We bring noise cancelling headphones and let him have as much screen time as he needs to prevent any wild tantrums. Being stuck in a plane seat is so hard for littles, a little screen time is really a tender mercy for them.
- Lean on others: I am not the type to lean on other people. I'm a grin and bear it, get things done and manage by myself type. Even accepting help from my husband is so hard for me. I hate being a burden. One of the best things I've learned with travelling with toddlers is that other people want to help lift your burden, and it feels so great to let them. There were numerous times on our trip that I was stuck in an airport and dropped something, or couldn't carry my bags and the sleeping toddlers, or just needed someone else to be mom for a second so I could catch my breath. Letting those who offered help made it all so much less stressful once I accepted that it was okay to need help. When we were on a layover in Pheonix there was even an adorable older man in a wheelchair who my daughter became infatuated with. At first I was stressed that she kept going over to this old man and demanding attention, but he quickly saw a need and played with my kids for almost the entire layover so I could sit for a while. By the time we boarded the plane Ona was on his lap playing patty cake and I felt much less strapped of my attention. Helpful strangers are miracles when traveling alone with kids.
- Don't let the stress get to you: I know this is so much easier said than done but kids are SO perceptive of their parents emotions. I had to remind myself constantly that if I kept a happy attitude my kids likely would too. I turned every bathroom trip and takeoff into a game and it kept them excited and engaged. Of course we had our meltdowns, upsets and moments of tears but overall because I kept a happier tude my kids did too. I think that helped the absolute most.
Doing these things made my trip so much easier. As easy as traveling with kids can be, anyway. And the memories we got to have together and with my family is so worth dragging a kicking toddler through security. But excuse me while I don't travel alone with them for a couple years to recover. ;)
XO
