Well we made it back from Hawaii and Jason and I decided we would write down all the things we hated about our trip so we would remember not to be talked into another one anytime soon. Like in the next ten years. Before we left I thought taking Daniel to a restaurant was a bad experience, now I know it is nothing like flying. So here are some of my reasons:
1. I bet before 9/11 it wasn't so bad, but security at the airport takes four years to get through when you travel with a kid. So it went something like this. We travel with a cpap machine, laptop, video camera, baby stuff and a tired cranky baby. You have to strip everything off, belts, shoes, the binky and any other security item that your kid has and walk through the security thing. Jason always has to go with his Cpap machine so I was left with Daniel and the eights bins of stuff to put back, trying to get me and Daniel redressed and had to move all the carry ons. It was insane. The first time through in SLC when they took Daniel's book you would have thought they gave him a shot, he screamed and tried to fling himself onto the xray machine. This was my least favorite thing.
2. Daniel does not sleep on planes very well. He did not sleep on the way to LA. From LA to Hawaii he slept for 45 minutes which left us with five more hours of entertaining Daniel on the plane. He did well as in he didn't scream like all the other kids but he is wiggly and being pregnant I did not appreciate his wiggles. Jason agrees that this is the absolute worst thing about Daniel, he just could not sit still. He had to see everything and touch everything and try to eat the food that was on other people's trays. We were glad he didn't scream but his wiggles were enough to kill us. Lucky for us he slept for two hours on the way back from Hawaii and on the whole flight from LA to SLC.
3. The last one I will do (I think I could go on for hours) is that Daniel is too young to be reasoned with. We could not explain to him why we couldn't go touch the airplanes while we waited in the airport. He didn't understand why they had to run his binky through the xray machine to check for dangerous and hazardous items. And most of all he did not understand why his parents did not insist that Papa buy him his own seat on the way to and from Hawaii.
For these reasons and about a thousand more I would never travel with a toddler on an airplane if it was more than a two hour flight. The stress and the time it takes to fly anywhere, including airport time, is too much for me. Daniel had a fantastic time on our trip and Jason and I came home more exhausted than we have ever been. Daniel could not understand when he woke up on Sunday morning where the ocean had gone but I think he is figuring it out that Utah has mountains and Hawaii has waves and fish.
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