How we got from there to here

There = Dubai; Here = Seattle.

I have to write this down because –

a. It gave me nightmares for weeks leading up to the actual date.
b. It was my first time, a one of a kind experience.
c. CA made me write it down, or I’d have safely thrown it to the back of the must-blog idea pile. 

First week of May, we headed back to the US from Dubai. (Note: We all refers to me and the kids. The Bapa conveniently escaped a month ahead of us. )

When we booked our tickets, I had a choice of transiting through Europe or going straight through to LAX. I couldn’t imagine walking between European airport terminals – that are usually separated by a mile at least, crossing security with two in tow, one of whom is highly unreliable when it comes to walking and the other I couldn’t possibly make him walk that distance, even though he showed promise of reaching Mach 1 (Thanks, Suki for the term!) 

So we bought the tickets for Dubai to LA and LA to Seattle, and I forced myself not to think about it till the date got closer. The date did get closer and I was kicking myself for having made a stupid decision of taking 2 kids on a 16.5 hour flight.

I mean, I had so many choices – I could have just come back with the Bapa. Or I could have sucked it up and transited – and begged for help along the way. At least it will be a break in the journey, and time for kids to run around. Or I could have left one kid behind (Yes, we discussed this option and I was quite serious about it. I don’t think I’d have had the guts to go through with it though). I begged my mom to come with me which she refused with “I’m sure you knew what you were doing when you bought the tickets.” (Thanks, mom, you’ve finally let me grow up )

So, it was just me and the kids. And 16 plus hours. In one plane. I fretted, worried, ran through scenarios, prepped Kodi, prepped myself and in the end it was all okay. Only because -

- I chickened out and upgraded to Business class. We pooled all our miles, bought some, and we had enough for them to open the gates to what I can only describe as air travel heaven. I mean, this is what flying should be like. Not the Thiruvalluvar bus type treatment you get in coach.

- I mentally braced myself.

Only 16 some hours. SIXTEEN? Yes, only sixteen, not sixty. But SIX-TEEN. That is super long. That is like, from 8 am to midnight, and I’ll still not be done. Another 2 hours to Seattle. But it is better than 8 am to 8 am. But sixteen? What was I thinking?? I’ll be okay, we’ll be okay, I’ll start praying now and not stop.

And on it went.

- One of the dilemmas I kept having was what to carry on board. Yes, this is important. Only someone who’s planning a trip like mine will understand why. Stroller or sling? Carry on or only diaper bag? After lot of back and forth, I decided on diaper bag, a pull-on luggage and no stroller, no sling. K would carry his backpack and a snack bag. That’s it, as light as we could make it.

- Food was on my mind all the time. What would I feed them? What if they have a hunger tantrum? And so I packed little ziplock bags with easy snacks – like wheat biscuits, puffed rice, goldfish crackers, cheerios. Anytime it looked like one might be hungry, I’d give him a bag. They worked great, especially while waiting in lines. I took the Bapa’s advice and packed some food for myself, we needed me to not throw a tantrum either.

- Plenty of water – definite must. It meant more trips to the bathroom, but I couldn’t risk dehydration and other complications.

- I convinced K to wear pull-up diapers the whole time. In case he fell asleep whenever. As for my bathroom visits, I had to run in and out when the Plane was asleep or make Kodi watch him right outside the door. He was his usual protective, big brother self and held on to Plane’s arm real tight. The air hostesses would have helped too, except Plane won’t go to strangers without raising a hue and cry.

- I resolved to be at my best mom behavior. Always in tune with the kids’ needs. Always taking care of them before it got out of hand. On the flight, I was on alert at all times. My only goal was to get through it without upsetting either one. I knew if I fell asleep it would be futile, one of them would wake me up and I’d end up with burning eyes, so I stayed awake the whole time and caught up with movies.

- I bought a pacifier. (*GASP!* the horror!) And put it in a ziplock with the label – “to be opened only for emergency”. I used it on Plane once, but he spit it right out, there ended that backup plan. I had considered Benadryl to make them sleep, but couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

- In the end, I resolved not to think of other people. I was doing the best I could, and if either kid raised hell despite that, my only concern would be to calm him down, instead of thinking of what other people were thinking. To hell with other people’s judgements.

- I let Plane run around the aisles. He charmed fellow passengers. Or so I think, because when he did get cranky the last half hour, no one gave me dirty looks.

- K once again proved he’s wonderful when traveling. I couldn’t have asked for more from him. He kept watching movies – actually he just watched one – Monsters Inc, over and over and over. And making up plane stories, and asking questions about what various buttons do, and befriending air hostesses so they brought him extra pastries. (yes, folks, they serve yummy pastries on business class. The things I’ve missed out on all these years!)

- We reached LAX in good shape, without looking like we’d traveled 10K miles. The home run though was a short flight from LA to Seattle, and it was just plain horror. Thank God for my brother – he met us in LA and took over everything. But we were seated in the last possible row of a hot airplane, cramped seats, a very cranky Plane, rude air hostesses. Well we had got through SIXTEEN hours – what was 2 more?

I am glad and grateful we reached in one piece.

Would I do it again? Hell, yes.

Only the traveling-in-class-with-flat-beds part though, not the traveling-alone-with-two-kids-under-five part.