Littles in Flight

The first question people ask me about our trip to Africa is- how was the plane ride?!?
I will be honest.
The flight(s) to Addis Ababa were.....awesome.
Seriously.  Believe it or not, the trip across the world with two Littles was not just fine, it was fun.
I used all the tricks I've saved up from dozens of domestic flights with kids, my memory of flying with four on the same route long ago, and some great tips from a friend who is like, BFF's with international travel and children.  Would you like to know the trade secrets?

1) Trunki.

Missy Rocking Her Trunki

 We could do an ad for Trunki with happy hearts.  This little rolling suitcase is not only super cute, but super handy on long flights,

Little One toting Miss (these pics are from another trip)

especially if there is a lot of walking through terminals or long layovers.
It's easy for even small kids to pull by themselves, doubles as an entertaining ride-on toy, and can be hooked together with other Trunkis so that multiple tired children can be pulled through the airport with one hand. Hollering "Choo-choo!" to amuse fellow travelers.
I only allow Trunki to be used for travel, so the novelty value is huge and keeps even worn out Littles giggling between flights.  Plus, getting to be "in charge" of one's own luggage feels very grown-up and responsible, and helps Littles behave accordingly.

Also a good place to sit. And wait. 

2) Surprise bags.

Each Little has their own special Trunki as their personal carry-on.  Inside are a change of clothes, jammies and disposable toothbrush if it's an overnight flight, and their "surprise bags".
The surprise bag is a backpack full o' fun.  They contain one very special, familiar toy, and a bunch of brand new, never seen before activities.  Ours had color wonder markers and pages, crayons and new activity books, story books, stampers, stickers, a bag with pony beads and pipecleaners to make bracelets, little jars of play doh, magnet boards, wind up toys, puzzles, and those little pills that magically turn into dinosaurs in water.  Oooohhhh.  Aaaaahhhhh.   Little One's bag also had Her "homework" from preschool.
I allow one activity at a time, and always exhaust the resources of the surprise bag before resorting to anything electronic.  I have found that I usually don't need to, and that these kinds of activities not only keep them from getting stir-crazy, but they morph an uncomfortable ride into quality time with my kids.  Oooohhhh.  Aaaahhhhh. The magical Surprise Bags.  My mom did this for us when we were small, and they are almost as fun on the other side.  Thanks mom!

3)Snacks

It's like a kid-size pacifier. With vitamins.

I don't usually do hand out snacks, but some of the best advice I received from my wise friend was:  "Bend your rules a little.  Or a lot."
I put two snack bags in each Surprise Bag, a "salty" (pretzels, pita chips, soy nuts, turky-jerky, freeze dried peas and edamame), and a "sweet" (dried and freeze-dried fruit, cheerios, millet, coconut chips, maybe a few mini-graham crackers).  The novelty of deciding between salty and sweet is a great distraction somehow, and mixing all those little snacks into one bag becomes an activity in itself.  They might spend fifteen minutes rooting around for the last coconut chip or pretzel, or counting how many raisins they can find.
I also keep a bag of snacks in my own carry-on to hand out as needed.  Because of unexpected delays and food allergies, I usually bring enough for us to all survive on if our plane crashed on a deserted island.  One big treat I like on planes is the pureed fruit packets with the spout for toddlers to suck the fruit out.  For one, it's a big treat and so it has entertainment value.  But they are also good for take off/landings to keep ears clear.  I do bring the straw-type sip cups for that as well, and to keep drinks from spilling.

4) Electronic back-up
Since it was such a long flight, I brought an ipad loaded with apps and episodes of permissible shows (and of course Miss's beloved Baby Movie), and an ipod with some of the same. Noise-regulating earphones in each surprise bag.  Between those devices and the nature channel episodes provided by the airplane, I had plenty of back up in case the surprise bags got tiresome or an emergency arose.... as it did on the return flight (but that's another story).

5) Sleep
I'd never done this before but my friend swore by it, so on this long journey I brought Little One's car seat.  Now I swear by it too. She didn't have to wiggle and wriggle, toss and turn, mess with the metal seatbelt jabbing Her side, and end up making me a prisoner by falling asleep with Her head in my lap.  She was in a comfortable, familiar chair in which She knows from experience just how to lean to sleep comfortably.  Leaving me free to tend to the other Little or make bathroom breaks or whatever.  (Also, it was nice to know that if I had needed to buckle one of them in so they couldnt go anywhere, I could have.)
Another trick for a night flight (again suggested by my friend) was to bring them on the plane in their regular clothes, but once we were in the air and had settled in, change them into PJs- giving them a mental hint that it was time to sleep- and do as much bedtime routine as possible.  We washed faces, brushed teeth and hair, read a story, and got tucked into blankets.

Since Miss was a lap child, I got to the airport at the exact time they opened up for check in- four hours before boarding- to make sure we got an infant bassinet.  She slept like, well, a baby in that thing and I had my hands and lap free. 

Between all that, the little colored pencils and such Lufthansa provides, and the excitement of the plane (funny meals in little trays, being allowed apple juice from the drink cart, being allowed to push the buttons on the armrest radio as much as their little hearts desired), the plane was a breeze.

The girls slept all the way to Germany and for the most part so did I.  The second flight miss napped a bit but mostly we were all busy with the surprise bags.  When we got off, I was a little sad the fun was over.

I know all that may sound like over-preparation, and I did have to haul two children, three carry-ons, and a car seat through Frankfurt to switch planes. (Frankfurt of all places). But it paid off.
After 19 hours of traveling we all had fun, no one cried, over a dozen people came up to compliment us on the Littles behavior, and when we finally arrived in Addis -I kid you not- we received a standing ovation from our surrounding passengers and flight crew.

Of course the flight home was a little more of an adventure.  But that's another story. 

Two Years Old

--> Before I get into the details of our travels, I have to take a minute to reflect on another adventure, one I started two years ago today.  Little Miss.
Two years ago today, Miss came into the world in what turned out to be exactly Her style. 
One day before Her due date. She had hung back and waited, and waited, until She was good and ready.  Then, once She had made up Her mind, She went forth decisively and undeteribly; storming through labor in a third the time I had expected, and caring nothing for the fact that She was beginning Her headlong entrance to the world in the hospital hallway, rather than the delivery room. (When Miss's internal clock says it's time for something, it's time, and the rest of the universe better fall in line.) But, despite the fact that She had charged into life so quickly that we made it to the delivery room just in time for Her to be caught by whomever happened to be there at the moment, our little March baby came out like a lamb.  Quiet as can be and curled into Herself, Her wide eyes searching.
Last weekend we had a little party for Her, themed in flowers because She is our spring girl and also because I feel that, in the last couple of months, She has bloomed into this two year old that we know to be so unique.  Her personality is so in keeping with the way She joined us two years ago.
Among Missy's plethora of nicknames is "honeybee".  She is a shy, delicate, but sunny and sweet little thing.  Who packs a sting if crossed.  Missy has a few carefully selected friends to whom She is devoted and loyal, the first of which is always Her sister.  After that, everyone is suspicious.
She likes attention from Her Selected Few, but detests the advances of perfect strangers and squirms like an ant under a magnifying glass if made the center of attention.  She is a safety-first kind of girl, needing to observe a long time before entering a new situation, and sensitive to any activity that is too loud, too bright, too fast.  Already She wars with Her sister over the radio volume.  "Too loud!" She exclaims as Little One rocks out to old-school punk in the living room.  Like a school marm, Miss marches to the radio with pursed lips and turns the dial.  Hands on hips, She nods at Her eye-rolling sister.  "That betta."
She likes a peaceful, serene, and predictable universe.  Her internal clock is as reliable as the digital.  10am sharp- "I huuungry.  Snack time!" 1pm sharp- She better be in Her bed or The Wrath is coming for us all.
She has recently acquired powers of negotiation.  "No! My band-aids come off!" She squeals at bathtime, sheltering the colorful strips over Her skinned knees. "No take baf! Um...um...yeah, yeah, tomorrow.  Tomorrow take a baf, take mine band-aids off.  Today no take me a baf....uh, go straight bed.  Strait bed, a'stead take a baf."  And off She marches, straight to bed.  For Miss is a being who knows what She wants and goes for it.  If it is too high, too stuck, too forbidden?  No problem.  A sweet overture will generally coax Her sister into obtaining it for Her.  If She's told no?  Look out.  Either a parent or Her own sweet self will probably end up deciding it's time for a Time Out.
But Missy does love a good Time Out.  Sometimes, I am convinced She finds something to hurl across my line of sight just so She can get a nice, quiet, Time Out.  Plenty often, She takes Herself there. "Miss grumpy. Take a time out. No bother me." 
She has earned Herself a reputation for grumpy.  But don't be fooled.  It's almost always a sham for overwhelmed, and the famed Missy Grin is lurking just beneath the frowny face, waiting for a brave enough moment to pop out and light the room.  Which it does. 
At home, where She is safe and sound, Miss is the family comedian.  Especially since Her verbal skills have skyrocketed in the last few weeks, She is constantly cracking us all up with Her silliness and age-inappropriate sense of irony, with Her affinity for puns, and Her charming Amelia Bedelia style literality.  "No like mine friend Maddy, no way!  Why She's so mad? Mad mad mad.  This scary me!"  But at least Her new conversationalism helps us to sort these things out, and She's become the most fun and adorable sidekick I could ask for.
Still independent, She wants me to play too these days.  She has also become the ultimate, ultimate snugglebug.  She continues to be obsessed with all things baby, to eat anything I hand Her, and to love counting even more than reading.  She loves art of all kinds, and is newly and deeply into playing pretend. She hates to be cold. She hates to wear shoes. But loves to try them on.  ALL of them. She worries about Her hair.  Refuses to wear a tutu.  Can NOT STAND to have Her hands dirty.  But has to be reminded to use a fork. She wants to do whatever Her sister is doing, with Her own flair.
She comforts anyone who seems hurt or sad with gentle pats, hugs, and a crooning "Ok! Feel you betta!"  And Her heart will break if you reject Her care.  She likes to compliment. "Mmmm.  This onions really good! So yummy mamma!"  "Thank you Daddy, fix mine puppy wif batt-a-ees. You nice Dada."  "You earrings! So nice! Look like a prin-sis 'a-day!"  "Oooh, look-a-you picture sissy! God job! So nice!"
She has Zero problem with telling me, or J, or the Queen of England "NO" if She means no.  Or if She doesn't mean it, but just feels like saying it.  She crosses Her arms as I sit Her in Time Out and glowers, "I mad a you mom! NO happy, me. MAD. You big trouble!" 
But more often She's begging for cuddles or snuggles, or squishing my cheeks between Her little hands, kissing my nose and smiling, "I wuv you! I wuv you mommy so so so so so SO MUCH."  Since the moment I saw Her old-soul eyes look right up at me, two fabulous years ago, I have been thinking exactly the same thing. 

Happy two years in the World, Little Miss.  You really are blooming before our eyes.  If I had to call you a flower, it might be an orchid; something that needs such gentle, specific care.  But grows to be so unique and lovely.  What a joy it is to be one of the gardeners who gets to tend to you, and watch you grow.  Just like a flower, for all the work and worry involved, the beauty you bring to our garden is more than worth it all.  We love you so. 

Stateside

Well, Peanuts.  We are home. 
Safe and sound, after many adventures.
I'm struggling a little with what to say about our journey.  I'm not even close to processing it through, really. This was the hardest trip for me, for my heart.  Not because the children were along; in fact in some ways it seems like maybe fate arranged for my Littles to be with me so that I would be able to get through the hard parts.  It's just that some of the new programs we have at AFC bring us nose to nose with a reality that is hard to accept.  I'm both happy to be home in my fortunate world, and struggling with having left behind so much work, as well as the lovely things we will miss.  And we do.
Little One in particular melted into Ethiopia the moment She stepped into it.  She immersed Herself in every aspect- I could write a whole long post about this- and spent most of Her first morning home shedding fat tears and trying unsuccessfully to forgive me for taking Her away from Ethiopia when She had told me so many times that She didn't want to leave.
Miss is trying to get through the shock of a barrage of time zones and yet another transition; and for Her the trip was more complex than Her sister's instant love.  But I can say definitively that the experience as a whole was hugely character building, growth inducing, and full of learning and fun for them both.  I'm very proud of them.  I'm very happy that I was able to give this gift to them.
And also very, very thankful that at the end of our scheduled time I had this unbelievable ability to, as if by magic, ferry them to a land where the water is clean and flows without end, where food piles up on the pantry shelves, where miracles are possible inside sparkling hospitals, and the air is crisp and fresh.  I think of the mothers I have met who can never even dream that for their children.
I'm washing the laundry in a machine, I'm planning a party for a few days from now, and I'm feeling a little numb.  Emotionally, I feel as if Ive been dunked in hot then icy water and I haven't shaken off the feeling of disorientation yet.
But the house mothers packed me a suitcase full of injera and spices, and I made a (pretty darn good if I do say so myself) Ethiopian dinner for us and the family we have visiting us, and I have ArifZen radio and that eases the sting a little.  And to help me get through the strangeness of this country and culture, I have what got me through the one I visited- my two amazing little daughters, who keep me busy and grounded by so constantly and unfailingly reminding me of what matters, what is important, and what I'm here for.
It's possible that I'm suffering from culture shock complicated by a severe overdose of gratitude. For what we have here at home in the US, and for the wonderful (and even the hard) things we found in Ethiopia.   When I begin to recover I'll be back with stories.  Right now, I'm going to go to the tap, pour a glass of water, and drink it.  I'm going to enjoy it very much.  One of the side effects of this shock/overdose I'm afflicted with is that the water in my kitchen, at the moment, tastes extremely sweet.