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As a mom, we鈥檙e programmed to worry. Do our kids meet milestones, eat the right food, play well with others? Is there enough food in the house, money in the bank and caffeine in the coffee?
If there鈥檚 nothing immediately obvious to cause worry, we stress that we surely must have missed something and swiftly chastise ourselves for our transgression, before seeking out something to satisfy our constant need for concern.
Perhaps that鈥檚 why, during a rare, stress-free moment, I sought out something to rock the boat and found myself in a travel agency handing over a credit card saying, 鈥淵es please, I鈥檇 like three tickets for a solo, overnight, trans-Atlantic flight with a three-year-old and a 10-month-old.鈥�
Bam.
An almighty new worry.
In the weeks since, like a motivated hound, I鈥檝e sought out anyone with a whiff of similar experience to share and begged them to leave no details uncovered of how exactly they did it.
Good or bad, I now have a multitude of configurations for the trip.
Decision number one: do I take the eldest鈥檚 car seat onboard? With it comes familiarity, comfort and safety, with the added bonus that she鈥檒l be contained within her seat and not need to splay across all available space 鈥� my lap included. My major concern, however, is fitting a car seat into an airplane seat while balancing an infant in the carrier, keeping the three-year-old within arm鈥檚 reach and placating fellow passengers who will, no doubt, be desperate to squeeze past so that they can claim their seat.
Perhaps I don鈥檛 take car seats at all and just rent them in the U.K.? This would be an attractive option were it not for our previous car-seat-hire experience where a bucket buckled on to the back seat would have provided greater comfort and security to our then 18-month-old.
And where will the 10-month-old sleep on the plane? We鈥檙e limited to just one option here 鈥� on me. Strapping her into a carrier will potentially leave me hands-free to do, well, very little, as she would still be attached to me, but I could at least scratch an itch if I get one. Alternatively, she could lie across the nursing pillow, but I have terrible notions that she might roll off if I accidentally fall asleep or be catapulted off the pillow should the person in front suddenly re-adjust their seat鈥檚 incline.
This next concern is possibly verging on too much information, but what if we need to pee? How do we do that? Do we all pile into one bathroom stall while in the airport? Do I sit the 10-month-old on the floor and watch her crawl right under the door while I deal with the eldest? And just how do I take a three-year-old to a bathroom on an airplane with a sleeping infant strapped to my front, only to realise that the door appears locked for an eternity. What is going on in there? A three-year-old cannot hold on for that long!
And finally, just finally, how to I transport two children, a nursing pillow, pyjamas, spare clothes for all, snacks, games and electronic devices of desperation, through security (a hot-bed for escalating stress levels), all the way to the gate without falling apart both physically and emotionally?
I can see now why so many people give sharp inhales of breath as I explain what we鈥檙e about to do. It all sounds a bit nuts. Remind me again why I bought non-refundable tickets?
