Traveling with Clio

There's a Cardigans song called Traveling with Charlie that Dave put on a mixed tape for me when I took my road trip to New Mexico (before we were dating!) and during the 7 hour journey we just endured, I had it stuck in my head, with the name changed to Clio.

Clio did NOT do well on the plane. In fact, we were THAT couple, sitting in the back of the plane, apologizing and smiling sheepishly as our child threw books and food at people, poked the (sleeping) passenger next to us, pulled the hair of the guy in the seat in front of us, and generally carried on. To be fair, she did not nap and was extremely over tired. And, due to a hailstorm, we got stuck on the tarmac for an extra hour before takeoff. We kept thinking that maybe, MAYBE she would wear herself out and sleep, but it didn't happen. Not in the airport, not in the plane, not at baggage claim, not in the taxi line, and most definitely not in the cab home from JFK.

I have learned a few things from this:

1) plan to leave for the airport directly after a baby's nap, rather than planning to be in the air during a nap- that nap will not happen and you'll be that much closer to meltdown when you board.

2) invest in some of those toys that take a zillion batteries and have flashing lights and voices- board books and stuffed animals just won't cut it.

3) fly Sun country or other second-rate carriers whenever possible- yours will not be the only screaming baby.

4) bring a change of clothes not just for the baby, but for yourself as well. Clio dumped an entire bottle of water all over us. She got a dry shirt, but Dave and I had to sit and stew.

5) if you are scheduled to land at 7pm at JFK, you will not be home anywhere near the baby's bedtime. You will be home at 10:15.

Tomorrow we'll get back to happier times with pictures from the gloriously summery week.

Good night!