Flying with small children

I have been traveling with my son, since he was born. When my son was 6 months old, we took off on a road trip to visit my best friend and her husband a few states away. Since then, he has made several road trips and has more skymiles than your average adult.

As I dropped my son and fiancee off at the airport today, I went down a long list of the dos and don'ts of traveling with small children. It always amazes me how some families travel with small children and how inconsiderate other people are. My thoughts on flying with children:

• Have your child pack a small book bag with toys and activities that they can do quietly in their seat. My son has a rolling book bag that he can tote around and fits under the seat in front of him. He is usually allowed to pick 5 quiet and low impact toys. These toys usually include his favorite stuffed animal, some matchbox cars and his crayons.
• Be considerate of other travelers. Teach your children that it is not polite to push and kick the seats in front of them.
• If you are traveling with a child in a car seat, and plan on carrying the car seat, check your baggage, except what is needed to care for the child and to entertain the child. My son has actually not used his car seat on any of the commercial flights we have been on. It has always been checked as baggage.
• If you travel frequently, invest in a portable DVD player. I bought an LG portable DVD player with a battery expected use time of 5 - 6 hours. This has been extremely helpful. Most flights we take domestically are not generally longer than 6 hours.
• Have your child travel in something comfortable and shoes that they can easily on and off of their feet.
• Make sure that they attempt to use the bathroom before getting on the plane. My son had an incident on the airplane last year where he accidentally pushed the flush button, while sitting on the toilet. The noise alone was enough to scar him, but when added to the suction he was terrified of the toilet after that experience. Airplane bathrooms are very small and are not designed for two people, even if one of them is very small.

As a frequent traveler, both professionally and personally, I have found that most of your average adults get bored and have difficulty on a long flight. Children's attention spans are much shorter. Be prepared to find creative ways to entertain your child.

Snow Days in the Pacific Northwest

This past week has been a challenging week. Living in a town that is not used to seeing snow, the 6 accumulated inches (with more still falling) has been challenging for both my work day as well as for my son and soon to be husband.

To the left, is the view of the road in front of our cottage. We made the decision, and I believe a wise decision as that, to drive our horses out to our new duty station before the bad weather hit. This meant leaving my 4wd truck and flying back. The move meant 3500 miles of driving, pulling a horse trailer with two miniature horses. Now, with that much of a move, there were several mountains and passes involved. Now that there is no end in sight to the snow falling from the sky, I believe the 2 months of being without my truck is totally worth it.

Although the snow is very beautiful, and normally I would enjoy it immensely, it has presented some challenges. First and most importantly, school has been out. I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home. Or rather, might be unfortunate depending on how you look at it. But with school out, my normally quiet working conditions at home have been interrupted with the antics of a 5 year old. In addition, the weather has created certain internet and phone issues, making my connection to my corporate office an issue.

In addition to my son being out of school, my soon to be husband hasn't been to work in several days either. With the weather bad, and almost every business establishment closed, he has also been stuck in the house without much to do and has become just as bored as the 5 year old.

As a child, I LOVED snow days. It meant no school, and tons of playing in the snow with my friends. And nighttime sledding at the middle school about a half mile from my house. There were hours, upon hours of time spent playing in the snow. But, as my son is an only child, and most of the children that he plays with have moved, it leaves his entertainment up to me. You might imagine this presents a problem when I am expected to put in 8 hours of work and he has nothing to do. I normally wouldn't think of the TV as a babysitter, but then again there are an amazing amount of educational games for his Leapfrog Clickstart Computer. As it is Christmas time, he has enjoyed writing out numerous lists to be mailed to Santa Claus.

The snow days bring up an interesting subject. What do you do with a 5 year old, when they are not in school and can't go outside for multiple days and you have to work? My suggestions:

• Invest in some learning games and workbooks. Although the kids can't go to school, they can still do activities that expand their knowledge along with entertaining them.
• Have a craft box for those "Rainy Days" where the weather is bad and outdoor play is not an option. We keep a box of crayons, a pair of scissors, some glue along with construction paper for just those opportunities.
• Books and puzzles are great entertainment. This is something that your children can do while you are working. The books/puzzles shouldn't be too complicated so that your child is able to complete them and it will keep them busy.

These are just a few of the activities that we have used this week to keep my son entertained, allowing me to try to get some work done while he is home.