Jet-Setting Adventures: Flying with Your Little One?

Join me in Episode 14 of Love in Focus: Building Community with an Only Child as I embark on a delightful journey through the skies! In this episode, I'll share some fantastic tips and ideas for making air travel with your child a breeze. Discover how a well-prepared carry-on bag filled with their new toys and activities can turn a plane ride into an exciting adventure. Tune in to learn how to create memorable moments while soaring above the clouds with your little one. Don't miss this uplifting episode filled with travel inspiration and family fun! 

Transcript

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Hi, my name is Four and welcome to The Love and Focus, the podcast for Mons where we explore, discover, build community with our only child. Let's get going. Okay. You know what I mean. Let's start with the program. Oh my goodness. Traveling on an airplane with your only child. Um, this is a topic for us because this weekend we are going to be traveling again on an airplane. And when I mean again, I don't mean all the time like we just get up and go and travel on a plane. Uh no. Though it would be nice just saying that, depending on where we're going, if you like traveling on a plane, Olivia loves to travel. So her first time that she traveled on a plane, she was about three and a half years old, and we did a trial run because Jeremy had a conference somewhere for work, and we thought, you know, it's a weekend conference, we'll come along, Olivia and I, and we'll see how she goes before we make the big trip. Now, the big trip for us is when we fly to New Zealand. So we've we live in the States and we fly to New Zealand every so often, like every two to three years. Well, it's been longer than that because of COVID, so I haven't been home in a while. And so the first flight was about I think six, maybe six hours, and we just wanted to see how she's gonna do and how we are gonna respond to how she's doing, and let me tell you, oh my goodness, I was praying, and this is what you should not do, mums. When you're curious, do not I recommend just watching really encouraging videos of people having wonderful experiences. That's a tip. If you are traveling for the first time, I mean it's good to read what you should take and how you prepare. And what I loved it, I googled and I looked on YouTube what other mums were taking on the plane to entertain their child, really from uh only from an only child experience, because depending if they had siblings, you know, they could, you know, they had a sibling to entertain them, you know, each other depending how old they are, and so for me, I just wanted to really um hear from mums with an only child that had similar age to Olivia, and it was wonderful. So um I got the idea this mom on YouTube, I honestly can't remember her name, but she would have some new toys, you know, wrapped up so uh her child would unwrap it like a gift, and she said for her, depending on the time or how long the flight is, she would give her child every a new toy to unwrap, maybe every two to three hours, and then they got to play with it and engage. Now, yeah, you do have the screen, um, depending on how long your flight is in front of you, and for those, you know, some children toddlers will look at it, and some others, and I just wanted to be prepared that yeah, if I take something on, you know, Olivia Machine might not want to look at the kids' programs, but at least I was prepared, and I had all these fun things in my bag, and that really worked for her. And I picked toys that were okay, it didn't make like a mess on the plane because depending like, yeah, we're sitting next, me, her, and her dad, but I don't know the person next to me, they don't want any slime. Not that you'd be taking slime on the plane, but if you do, that's your business. Or you know, something like she sprinkles everywhere. It was something easy that um, and it was something new. So I wanted to introduce new things to her. Uh, I took um, did I take Play-Doh? And I took different um like hands-on. I don't know if I took beads, like rat like tied up to um what do you call it? Oh, it's sticky notes. Yeah, so you know those square sticky notes you get. This mum suggested that you, you know, take a sticky note and they can just stick it on their chair, like because they would take it, um, they will, you know, not rip, unstick it one pad at a time and stick it all over. And then I took some markers, she was at the age pens and cr, you know, colouring stuff, and oh, and those, what do you call it? Um, where it doesn't mark those um I don't I don't know if you call this Crayola magical, where it doesn't matter where you go because once you put that pen, that mark on the page, it highlights it. And so then even if they draw on the couch or off the page, it's not going to the color's not going to show up. And so I like that. And I would buy different books of that, so and then I bought um some sticker books, it's just really good, and so every so many hours, she would get a nice book, and I would make sure uh a nice activity that this would fit in my bag comfortably so I can get it out. And here's the funny thing uh, years later, we are still doing this tradition when we go on family vacations. Uh she knows mommy is going to um bring out a new toy, a new something, and as she's gotten older, um like I this weekend we're traveling again uh to see her great uncle and I got a backpack and I'm filled with you know her favorite her favorite things and toys that she's been wanting, little knickknacks, and so um I d this time I didn't wrap it up, and so um I and every now and it's just so funny because I'm like, huh, who gets a prize every two to three hours? And here you go, and it's not like a like uh expensive gift, it's just like uh little cute toys that she likes that she points out throughout the last few months, and I'm like, okay, you know, when um I'll surprise you for like Christmas or something, but I was really keeping an eye on those little toys, and I put it all in my bag because I know I've got to bring them all back home. And then I got some fun colouring sticker books that she really enjoys, and and the good thing about her, we pretty much know each other what we like. So when I see it, and she I was like, Oh yeah, she I know she'll love that, and that'll keep her entertained as well. Yes, she's six years old and she likes her tablet, and then I got her her own headphones, and I make sure I do have her cord, you know, so we can charge her the charger cord. So those are really good tips, and then I buy some um like yummy snacks, um, pretty much like junk food that she likes, you know. Now that I'm thinking it, yeah, I mean it's not a lot, it's just a bag of little treats. Because I know when we get to the airport, she'll want to buy some things here and there. And the and the awesome thing about it is that now she loves to have her own carry-on bag, and I see children a lot younger than her um have their own carry-on bag, and it's so cute to see them wheeling their uh their little suitcases and everything. So, Olivia she has her own purple little suitcase, carry-on, it's got wheels, and the fun thing about her being at this age, she packed her own bag and she got it all organized. I helped her write a list, and that is a wonderful thing about her being six years old. Or maybe your child would say, Well, you know, my child can do that at a lot younger. That is awesome. I mean, they're a lot younger, and they want to pack their own things, that's wonderful. For for me, her just doing everything herself, even down to her toothbrush, and she even put my own toothbrush in her bag. So I was like, uh, we still have a few more days, and we're not going yet, so had to get it out of the suitcase, and then I ended up like oh, I'll just get an extra toothbrush, and then I was just leave that one in the bag. But she had so much fun packing her own little suitcase, and um, so I just want to let you know that for us or for me, I have not stopped giving her little gifts on vacation, and it's so hilarious because when she wakes up in the morning, what does mommy do? There's already a gift on her waiting for her on the table. I mean, how awesome is that when you wake up in the morning when you go on a vacation, there's something a little surprise for you that you just like it's Christmas every day when you go on vacation. Now, honestly, I don't know how long I'm gonna keep doing this because I do enjoy it, and I wondered my imagination is like, is this what it's like when you go on the way on a fancy um on a vacation? It's probably not even I don't know if it's fancy because I haven't been on a I mean I personally hasn't have not been on a vacation, like when I walk into my hotel room, and there's always a gift for me, but I know there's always something for my daughter, so I just wanted to share that with you. Maybe you do something for your only child, you know, maybe it's a little gift like me, and or maybe you do something else, or not at all, but I just wanted to share that, and what I love about her and I is that we love to swim at the hotel pool. If we are staying at a hotel and there is a pool there, we will make the most of it before we go to breakfast, after we go to breakfast, before lunch, after lunch, I mean we will try and jam in our swimming, our swimming um adventures. So we do a lot of swimming here and I, and um that's what we like about. So I just wanted to share that with you. If you're traveling with a little one, and if you say, Does it get better from my experience? It does. You'll find your own rhythm, you'll find what works for you, and you know, your family, and maybe you will put little gifts, or maybe you just take play-doh, like I don't know, um, stickers, or you'll find something that works for you. And then I would ask friends as well, what did they use? I mean, what the what were their techniques? And for Livia, also, she always you know, she travels with her her soft toy, kitty. Well, kitty comes with us everywhere as well, and so um that's a comfort for her too. And so, what I just wanted to remind you that you are a wonderful mom, you are doing the best you can with the time that's given when you are traveling, you are an encourager, you're and most likely, unless your husband loves to pack as well, which is fine. Um, but you know, you're organizing, you're getting your everything ready before you leave home, and then you're packing your bags and you're organizing your child's things, and you're thinking about how to set the room up. Oh, and that was one of the keys too. When she was a toddler, um I would set up like familiar things in the hotel, so um like her some of her blankets, her favorite toys that she would have at home, I would bring that plus a new toy and some of the books, and I would set up a corner where it would be like as if we were at home when we were playing. And so if you could if that's helpful for you, so you know, it's like yay, we're on vacation, and you get to um it's you know, so they're familiar with some of the things. I don't know, that just helped me out a lot when Olivia was um little as well. So um, I guess I'm saying so so a lot. I just wanted to say, Mom, I pray that you enjoy your vacation too, and the time you spent with your child, you find something that you both enjoy, and then also you get to relax as well, and you get to do uh things that you also love, and maybe I pray you get to find something new for yourself. I always try to find some something different to eat, like a yummy dessert that I haven't tried before because I'm a foodie. So I pray too that um as you are exploring and having a wonderful family vacation, that you um able to make some time for yourself, and remember you are the best mom for this child, and I truly mean it, and you are a wonderful friend, and you're so beautiful. So, my heart, please hear my heart when I say enjoy your family vacation. Take the time to unwind, you know, relax, take your shoes off, let your hair down, or just put on those, you know, comfortable pajamas that you love, and just enjoy. So, thank you for listening. This is for thank you for listening to love and focus building community with an only child, and I will sing you in the next episode building uh love and focus one episode at a time.