Prevention

UPDATE: Traveling With Toddler

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Just thought you’d like to know how the 8 hour flight went with the new trick I learned…it couldn’t have gone better!  He was an absolute prince.  He only slept about 2 hours ( I knew the 3 hour nap was too much to ask for) but while he was awake he was very excited to open his new gifts one by one, and played with each for quite a long time.

I felt a little awkward when the guy in the seat next to me said, “another present?” as I pulled out his 3rd one..I hadn’t thought about how this might look to others.  In that moment this feeling washed over me that I was really spoiling my child.  But that only lasted for about 1 second as I saw the joy on his face and remembered my mantras of not worrying what others think about the way I parent, and especially not explaining myself or making excuses for my child.  So I just smiled and said to him, “Hey- as long as he’s happy the rest of us will be too!” Little did he know that I had 5 more in my bag that we didn’t need!  I’ll be saving those for our next flight.

Products, Recommendations

Pineapple Mania

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I know we don’t want tons of kitchen gadgets cluttering up our kitchen, but if it’s something that will help up us actually eat more fruits and veggies, I’m all for it. And that’s why I have to recommend another magical fruit cutter!

I’m in Hawaii, and I’ve discovered The Pineapple Slicer

Have you always wondered how to cut a pineapple? Try this gadget- it’s great because you can leave the shell of the pineapple intact and put the cut fruit back in it, then use it as a centerpiece!

Resources, Websites

Great Website for Traveling With Kids

3 Comments

I am preparing for an 8 hour flight with my toddler! Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Well it doesn’t have to- a friend recently gave me some very good advice- “have high expectations of your children.” I had actually never thought of this before, though my husband and I have always taken our son along to everything we do with high hopes that everything will turn out well. But we hadn’t actually put words to what we were doing- having high expectations of him. Well said.   And it’s applicable in any situation, whether sitting through a restaurant meal with friends, visiting an art museum, or traveling across the pacific ocean.

My sister who has lots of experience traveling with her son (his first flight to Hawaii was at 8 weeks!) told me about a great resource:

Baby Travel Made Easy

Even though my son has already traveled by plane many many times, including two 11 hour flights, I thought I’d check it out to see if there was anything I could add to my bag of tricks.

Here is my favorite tip:

“Once the flight is under way, it’s time to play Santa Claus. (Santa flies, too, right?) Every hour or so, give your little one a gift to unwrap. The presents don’t have to be fancy or expensive; they might include books, snacks, or stickers. But it’s best to give items your child has never seen before, since these will hold his interest the longest.”

I loaded up on books, stickers, cars, and Legos yesterday.  We should be fine. Oh, and I’m counting on a 3 hour nap.  Is that too much to ask?

UPDATE: ok, so I just finished wrapping all the little gifts (like I needed one more thing to do!) and I think I might have gone a little overboard: