From Takeoff to Landing

The Summer Solstice is Wednesday and it's the start of family vacation season. The roads will be busier (that is if gas prices continue to go down...fingers crossed!) and airplanes will be full of children screaming, running a muck, and making childless passengers want to jump out the nearest exit. I'm hoping my children will not be those children. We will be taking our first family vacation as a family of 5 and I'm a little nervous. I've traveled with one and two (child)ren and it wasn't bad. Although with 3 little ones and a ten hour cross country flight, it may be quite different. I'm not worried about No. 1 because she is old enough to occupy herself and is kind of a veteran at flying. She has never really given us any issues there. No. 3 shouldn't be very difficult because he's still in the eat, sleep, poop, repeat stage. But No. 2 is a different story. He is 19 months old and all boy! He's moving right into that Terrible Two's stage and I'm a little concerned about the non-stop flight where he won't really get to burn any energy. We planned it to be a non-stop flight merely because we want to get on a plane, get settled and not worry about packing up and running to the next connection until we get to our destination. Yet, we planned to go with the kids at this age because we saved on 2 tickets being that both our boys are under the age of 2. Just thought I'd put that out there in case you decided we were just plain insane to be traveling so far with such young children. And yes, that means that both boys will be in our laps the entire time.

That all brings me to the point of this post. What in the world am I going to pack to keep them occupied on the plane so that they will not be driving everyone mad! Of course, we plan on taking the portable DVD player. But it is only meant to last half of the flight time, not that kids should be having that much screen time anyway!!! But a couple of DVDs may help.I came up with a list of must-have items.

For the soon-to-be Kindergartener (all packed in her own little backpack)
Movies (of her choosing)
3-4 books (including one she will want for bedtime, also of her choosing)
Homework books (books that she can practice her writing, counting, shape identification and other educational skills she should not forget over the summer)
Coloring notebook/Crayola twistables (should I succeed at locating all of them before we leave)
Individual snack packs
A couple changes of clothes
Her little piggy neck pillow
Maybe one of her dolls or stuffed animals

For the Energetic Tot
Several packs of blended foods like Happy Tot fruit and vegetable blends
Individual snack packs
3 books or perhaps even his LeapFrog Tag Junior reading buddy
A couple of his favorite cars/trucks/choochoos
Pacifiers (for takeoff, landing, and napping)
A familiar blanket
A couple changes of clothes w/ diapers

For the First-time Flyer (Luckily, he is still nursing which is preferred over fumbling with baby bottles)
Pacifiers
Blanket
Changes of clothes w/ diapers and wipes

Now, we can't forget those necessities that will help to keep the kids comfortable and healthy for the remainder of their vacation. Those items include hand sanitizer, any required medications your children are on, proper forms of identification (we are going to need No. 2's birth certificate to verify that he is indeed under the age of 2, because by his looks, he could pass for older).

I know that many recommend Benadryl as well. I have not yet given my younger children this medication so I'm not sure if this will help or harm us on our flight. I will be chatting with their pediatrician at their next appointment before the trip.

Now, this looks like a whole lot to pack! It sure is! I will be discussing packing for a family of 5 efficiently and economically in the near future. I do not intend on paying baggage fees for all the members of our family. Keep an eye out for that specific post.