Package Deal: Traveling With a Toddler

We take our baby everywhere with us.  I know many parents go on dates- or even on vacation- alone, and I'm sure we'll make that choice eventually.  As of now, though, it's not palatable to either Cabbage or me.  Beep is young, she spends a tremendous amount of time at daycare, and we all. just. need. each. other. 

We're a package deal. 

There was no question Beep was coming with us to Florida, but traveling with a toddler can strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned traveler.  We were going to have twelve hours of travel to get there, two fast and furious days packed with parties, sightseeing, and family visits, and then another marathon travel day to get home.  We would literally take planes, trains, and automobiles.

Everyone stresses about the Travel What Ifs, and I am no exception.  Allow me to elaborate:

• What if she has a major meltdown on the plane and I have to be that parent?  You know: the one with the screaming kid inflicting misery on 100 adults trapped in close proximity? 
• What if I can't handle all the baby gear by myself and I look totally incompetent?
• What if she gets sick far from home? 
• What if she has a diaper blowout? 
• What if the flights get screwed up and we are stranded until I run out of drinks/snacks/diapers/patience/or we have to sleep on the airport floor? 
• What if our seatmates aren't nice about sitting next to a toddler? 

I'm getting stressed just listing that crap.  But bear with me.

Beep was always a great traveler as an infant, but toddlerhood changes lots of things...  Her ability to deal with the confinement, long travel days, and the quick turnaround was a big unknown. I'm nothing if not stubborn committed to my ideals, though.  Our trip to Florida was a cover-eyes-and-leap kinda thing. 

It was Beep or bust. 

Due to frequent flyer mile issues, Cabbage was flying separately from us, so Beep and I were on our own for our plane rides.  Fortunately he was able to help get our luggage to the ticket counter, which was a huge bonus.    

What is it like to travel with a toddler?  See for yourself.

It takes more time.  But then there are the unexpectedly entertaining modes of transport.   

A baby traveling thousands of miles requires a lot of gear- car seat, stroller, diapers, snacks, etc... Happily, the stroller will carry not only all this gear, but also your own bag.  And it can be checked for no cost, right at the plane.  Happy day!  TSA was excellent about helping handle the gear at the security checkpoints, too. 

Airports have wide open spaces.  An empty baggage claim plus a ball from home made the perfect playground.

Hollering "Hi!" and waving at new arrivals became the new favorite pastime.  (Many, many people did not say hi back.  I tried to make up for it.)

 

Most airports have play areas for kids, and we made good use of them.  Opting to board late in the boarding process gave us a few more minutes to play and shaved off unnecessary minutes of confinement.

Once on the plane, a window seat was magical. 

A new book became a lifesaver when I really needed it.  Like, for example, five minutes into the flight.

Quarters are definitely cramped, and there's no solution for that.  Beep traveled on my lap, so this was the sum total of the space she had to play in.  We played quiet games, looked out the window, colored, made good use of iPhone apps, and read books.  

Eventually, my overstimulated, confined, desperately tired baby degenerated into a squirmy, fussy tyrant.  She refused to nap until she pretty much collapsed...

...About the time I spotted the skyline of our destination.

While on vacation, napping will often be accomplished on the run.  Based on empirical evidence, we confirmed a carseat nap is not equivalent to a crib nap.

Whenever possible we let Beep stretch her legs and burn off energy.  I will note that did not always make it easy to get her back in the carseat.  When she'd had enough of it all, I hopped in the back seat and played with her until she nodded off or we arrived at our destination.

We leveraged vacation treats to smooth over feelings of being unsettled and out of routine.  In this case, our tired baby was entertained by the holy trinity of eating a whole banana while watching cartoons from a coveted perch.

In the end, we made it all work and had a great time as a family.  This bottom line is: the gear was just stuff to manage; the schedules were juggled and figured out; the inconveniences passed, as did the fussy times. 

We adapted to Beep in every way possible, and she in turn showed us her own adaptability.  Along the way she revealed small joys we would have otherwise missed as adults and enriched our trip more than we could have imagined.

Did you ever hesitate to travel with your child?  What were your favorite memories from traveling with your baby?  What are your best tips for traveling with a baby? 

P.S.  Stay tuned for a look at the baby gear we packed.  I'll give you the rundown on what was worth taking and what will be staying home next time.

This Piece of Ground

We drove down the wide mowed track, making our way onto the ranch built by Molly and Troy.  This is where Cabbage sowed his childhood memories. 

He fell in love with ranching and agriculture here, and in these fields he made choices as a child that would shape the man he became.  I remembered his stories about life as a boy on the ranch, and little things illustrating his childhood...  Like how he learned to fall asleep riding on the floor of a tractor as it trundled back and forth.  He just wanted to be part of it all, even when he was too small to help and too sleepy to stay awake.

We drove to his part of the ranch.  This is a literally a piece of family history, green fields bordered by trees with the endless blue sky stretching above. 

He wasn't always here, but he moved onto the ranch when he retired from his crazy, road tripping, thrill-seeking career as a professional bullrider.

On this piece of ground, he made a home with his first wife and his first little girl.  She's the one Beep calls "Sissah."  Cabbage has always called her Hammer.  Although he loves many things about her, the nickname came from his pure admiration for her toughness and grit.

I have never been to this ranch or his piece of it, so until now this place has been just a series of stories and a few photos.  I'm so glad to see this tract of family land, to bring our baby here for the first time and to experience it all for the first time alongside Hammer and Cabbage. 

(Yes, we all have real names... and no, we don't go by them at home.  We do actually call each other the nicknames on this blog.)

For years I've heard about this tree.  Cabbage planted it many years ago, and its growth has measured the progress of his life.  When he moved off the ranch years ago to move to Hawaii, it was still a sapling.  On the day we visited with the girls, it stood taller than he expected.  It was large enough to drive under, and it shielded the car while Beep slept in its shade. 

There's not much here now.  A couple of outbuildings, lines of fencing, and ranching artifacts.

Hammer remembers her time here as a little girl.  Now, she's nearly grown and looking at colleges.  She is taller than me, blonde and beautiful, focused on school and a long-dreamed of career.  Cabbage is so proud of her and the person she's becoming. 

As I looked at all the open fields, I wished Sam was there.  He'd love it.  Plus, it's only a few miles to HITS.  Hooray for SHOW TIME!!!

I watched Cabbage wander a short distance, and I wondered what memories flooded his mind.  Was it thoughts of working alongside his grandad or his uncle?  Drinking beers with his friend Wayne?  Picking up the pieces after closing the chapter on a failed marriage... and desperately missing Hammer?

Or, since Cabbage is nothing if not a man's man...  Maybe he wasn't flooded with emotion.  Maybe he just enjoyed being there, surveying a landscape as familiar to him as his own hands, and feeling the warm fall sun.  He's good at living in the moment.

Hi yourself.

Eventually, it was time to go.  We drove back down the drive, and Cabbage got out to close the gate.

Until next time.

Photo Op at OBS

Just before we headed to the airport in Florida to make our way home, and during our whirlwind tour of the countryside, we stopped by Ocala Breeders Sales, an equine sales facility.  They sell only Thoroughbred horses, and specialize in select, high-end racehorses.  Some horses sold there come with price tags well into the millions.

The facility has its own racetrack...

...And row after row of spotless barns.  The barns are laid out just like the back side of a typical racetrack, with tack rooms at each end and hot walkers in between barns for exercising horses.

There's a huge difference though: this place is beautiful.  The back side of most tracks is shabby and plain, weathered and sometimes downright seedy.  I've never seen the back side of a track look this spotless.

Ocala Breeders Sales is well kept, to say the least.  The day we were there, it was also deserted.  There were no sales going on, and we took the opportunity to stretch our legs before heading for the airport. 

I sometimes wonder if my baby will believe I was around when she was small.  There will be so little proof of it.  I'm almost always behind the camera, so there are not a whole lotta photos with me actually in them.

For this reason alone, every once in a while I acquiesce to a photo or two.

Here I was trying to explain to Beep "This is grass, Baby.  It's a color we call 'green.' "  Poor little drought baby.

This is a pretty typical pose- wherever I go, the Beep is parked on my left hip. 

My left arm is freakishly strong and I can hold Beep practically indefinitely.  On the rare occasion my arm does get tired, it is still agreeable enough to not only continue holding her, but it just goes to sleep.

This is also totally typical.  Baby and Mama at a barn together. 

We felt right at home, but all too soon it was time to leave this idyllic little corner of the horse world.  Back into the car we piled and off we drove, a trio of horse dorks.