Day 1: Traveling to California

The flight across country went remarkably smoothly. Had I been in my earlier years of parenting, I would have felt much more stressed out and would have given a dramatic reporting of it. But now my expectations of traveling with one- and three-year-olds are probably more realistic, so I felt good about it all.

Tiny Pink Kitty is traveling with us
and will be making appearances throughout.

Margaret (3-1/2) did not nap for the entire travel day; Joseph (19 months) napped in my arms for 45 minutes on the first leg and 20 minutes on the second, even though it was midnight by our internal clocks by the time the children were tucked into bed.




I had the better expectation that I wasn't going to get to read or do anything to entertain myself but was going to entertain the children the entire day, so that made me feel perfectly calm (instead of irritated) that that is what I did. (There is good meditation in that!) We played "I Spy," read books, played tickle games, talked at length about topics important to three-year-olds, ate many, many snacks, and watched one movie.

I noted that my blood pressure didn't even blip upward when on a few occasions Joseph had all-out tantrums, flinging his 30-pound body this way and that, screaming for fifteen minutes, slamming his head into the wall of the airplane. Knowing that that was, frankly, to be expected from a 19-month-old having to sit still for four- and two-hour stretches and having almost no sleep for an overly long day made me feel quite calm about it all.

And that felt good!

We were so glad to make it here and be tucked into bed safe and sound.