Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Happy New Year? Let's Hope So. For All But One.

Hey folks,

So we're back from our annual trip to California to visit the in-laws. As always, its lots of fun, but we're always glad to get home by the end. This year was especially so since we had a two and a half year old with us (it seemed easier with a six month old and an 18 month old the two previous years).

The flight out wasn't bad. We had Malcolm strapped into his car seat which was strapped into the plane's seat. He still fits in his car seat, but when you add narrow plane rows, his feet can easily kick the back of the seat in front of him. He didn't do this too often and the guy directly in front of him was easy going about it. He got a bit fussy during the last hour because as a toddler he HATES being tied down and wants to roam. Being in a flying tube with 200 other people kinda prohibits this.

The flight back was nightmarish. We took a red eye hoping he'd sleep (which is what happened last year). Didn't happen. We even eliminated the car seat and bought a special harness to strap him in thinking it'd give him more room to stretch (it did...he could stand in front of his seat and jump). But he wouldn't sleep. Of course, the guy behind us was pretty much an ass anyway. He kept kicking the back of Malcolm's seat every time Malcolm made a sound (regardless of whether it was a happy sound or not). He also pretty much ignored us later in the flight when we asked him about shutting of his reading light (the only one on the entire plane that was on and by that time Malcolm was over tired and would have fallen asleep if the light wasn't shining in his eyes).

The ass did shut off his light eventually and Malcolm passed out, but woke up again when we had to strap him in for landing. He screamed the entire way from that point on. When we did land, I had Tash try to get him off as fast as possible and I'd stay behind as long as needed to gather all our stuff. There were two very nice, understand and helpful women on the plane (when Malcolm was screaming that he was "stuck" one woman tried to calm him by explaining that "we're all stuck and no one likes being stuck").

But as soon as Tash & Mac were off the plane, the as started making comments about the longest flight of his life...and I'm still standing there! I was about to say something (or deck him) when the woman behind him agreed that it was a long flight "but think about how long the flight was for the child's poor parents". That seemed to shut him up. Thank you, Mrs. Whomever you are.

Flying with kids is not easy, but sometimes it is something that has to be done. We don't like our kid screaming any more than you do. In fact we probably hate it even more because we're trying to not only keep our kid calm but we're worried about your rest and relaxation as well. So until the airlines start a "family only section" on a plane, try not to make things worse by being an obnoxious ass. We're doing the best we can under stress. If you're gonna make the problem worse, I won't hesitate next time to tell the flight attendant that you mentioned having a bomb on the plane. That should make your trip nice and happy.

Next up: Movie Reviews!

Be seeing you.

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