Travelling with kids

Much respect to the world travellers. We can barely get through a 20 minute car ride. Though next week we're going on a six hour car/boat trip. PANIC.

Oh gosh, SS, didn't realize you're still there. Hope it's like my return trips: they are usually a little better.

Jetlag is not over any time soon here. :-(

Made it through three day trip to semi-remote islands with 6-mo-old. Barely. She did not like sleeping in her playpen, so she woke up every 90 minutes, so all three of us were cranky and edgy the whole time. But she did eventually mellow out in her car seat, especially when I would reach back (from passenger seat) and show her videos of herself in happier times on my ipod. Vain little girl.
Also had fantastic time on upper deck of ferry, leaning into ocean wind and roaring with manic laughter, while her mom slept in the car down below.

We are off for a year-long trip to France now, with flights tomorrow -> Tuesday. Three kids (ages 2 to 8), two layovers (one in the US, one in Dublin), then the usual shuffle of trains etc until we settle in an apartment for a few days...then off on a holiday that will involve several different hotels and campgrounds and a decent amount of driving. Hopefully all goes well: the big kids have Nintendo DSs so they'll be fine, but the little one is going to be a hassle more than likely, though let's hope not. But once we're settled in the Italian lake district I think all will be well.

back home now. NEVER AGAIN. without reinforcements (PP and drugs), anyway.

SS, it's a bit like pushing a baby out of your body: you quickly forget how horrible it was. But my husband said he kept the Gmail chats so if I ever contemplated going back, he'd shove'em in my face. I am happy you're home! How was the flight back?

(Elisabeth has made a turnaround: in the creche she's in the bigger group... she eats BY HERSELF and ALL OF HER VEGGIES. clearly it's a mommy/control issue. hah)

We got here to France ok, little one and middle one slept on the overseas flight, bigger one didn't but she's doing well. And hey it's Paris.

There was a mean woman on our first flight though, seated a row ahead of us, who complained about our 2 yr old's "squeaky voice" (a fair assessment but wtf she's 2), put in earplugs, and then glared at us every time our daughter opened her mouth, which was a lot. At one point the mean woman got passive aggressivisimo and said in a very loud voice to the woman she was traveling with, "why doesn't she make her use her inside voice", about my wife, and then added, "I'm a mother" to explain why she could speak with such confident authority. My silent reply: yes, you are a mother. I felt better when the mean woman went on to yell at the woman she was riding with, too, and ended up feeling sorry for her evidently shitty life.

brains

Man, one thing I always hate about travel but especially about travelling with kids is all the extra pre-trip expenses that you never think of, i.e. all the crap you realize you have to buy, or don't really have to buy but buy anyway out of anxiety