With the world opening up, some of you may be thinking of flying soon. Here are five tips for making it easier with kids 🤗!
#1 Bring a buddy! Now this does not mean, just bring anyone. Be intentional with your buddy. I love my husband, but he was not this buddy for me. I brought my brother. Flying is already uncomfortable for Yev because he’s a giant person with a back injury. Add four small squirmy children, and flying can be agonizing for him. So I called my brother up and said, “I’m moving to Idaho. You’re coming with me.” I also may or may not have offered to buy all the booze he could drink 😂.
#2 Pack lots of snacks: I had a ton of individually packed snacks for the trip. Kids with mouths full of food can’t scream. So I made sure to dole those suckers out in 10 minute increments. I had a backpack full of snacks, and I counted them out to make sure they lasted the whole trip.
#3 Arrive extra early to check in car seats etc! Check in took us the longest. Even longer than security. And Yev had to make two trips from the car with our stuff: one for luggage and one for car seats. This was the most stressful part, and I wish we had given ourselves more time, just to alleviate some anxiety.
#4 Mystery back packs: A friend recommended going to the 99 cents store and picking up toys for the airplane ride. So I went and filled up my cart! (I figured it was cheaper than buying a couple of tablets for them 😂.) I then filled their little backpacks with different toys the night before, and all morning, “Mama, what’s in the backpack?” I responded with, “If you show good listening, you’ll get to open it on the plane.” I didn’t even let them take a peek, until that plane was in the air. The anticipation kept them quiet before, during, and after the great reveal!
#5 Set your intention: Tell yourself this is going to go well. If you anticipate it’s going to be horrible, then I promise, it’ll be horrible. Set yourself up for success and believe it will go better than you could imagine. Was it stressful to travel with four children, four and under? Absolutely. But it’s often a fine line between laughing and crying, and we were intentional with the side of the line we stayed on.
If you’re traveling soon, please comment below and tell me where 😍! And let me know if you have any questions ❤️.
Jacqueline Pinchuk 