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Sunday, September 17, 2017

Crying High / 3 year old / 17 month old / easyJet

4:01 PM // by Unknown // No comments

I'm back for the third in my thrilling Crying High series. Truth be told I've missed a number of blog worthy flights, including taking my two all the way to Australia and back!! One day I'll find the strength to write about that particular adventure but today it's just another London - Lanzarote mini adventure.

Getting there:
For some reason easyJet likes to kick off your holiday with ungodly flight departure times like our 6am flight out of Gatwick. A little while back we cottoned on to the fact that a night at the airport Premier Inn hotel will set you back about as much as a cab fare to the airport at 3am and that it's a hell of a lot more relaxing. Please do this if you have a 6am flight! If nothing else, give yourself this luxury!

After strolling across to the airport at ungodly hour, we had an easy time checking in and getting on board. We foolishly decided to travel without a stroller though and that meant dragging 3 year old by the hand through to the gate when our slowly caffeine absorbing bodies were still getting into gear.

We had some awful people in front of us on the plane who glared and tutted at every ear piercing scream our 17 month old made and every kick to the back of their chair our 3 year old gifted. They were especially thrilled when our bottle of water slightly showered them after take off but all in all it was a good flight, confirmed by the lady behind us who informed us she barely heard a peep out of the kids - phew! That's the glory of a 6am flight if you play your cards right and tire out the kids in the play area pre-flight, they are so sleep deprived and exhausted, they crash out for the flight - win!

Coming home:
Awful. Never want to fly again. I'm here to tell you that no matter how many flights your kids have been on, every now and then they will turn into those kids that people will still be complaining about the next time they go to book a flight! There is just nothing you can do to change that. Our 3 year old loudly lamented the fact he was no longer with his cousin and abuelos the entire way through security, check-in and the flight...only pausing to occasionally watch some pre-downloaded Netflix...which also produced more noise because Mami didn't remember to pack the kid headphones or to download the show she's never heard of before! Our 17 month old has a scream, a high pitched, cover your ears scream that makes you want to punch a wall..or crawl into a hole. She used it, frequently...thankfully she crashed out for two of the four hours but she put in her best effort to make up for lost time when she was awake.

Sometimes, you are THAT family. And so we vow to never travel again...but of course we already have tickets to Belgium in October...stand by for Crying High - Eurostar edition!!

Crying High / 7 Months / Ryanair / 2 Hours In The Air

3:30 PM // by Unknown // No comments

Yes we flew Ryanair with a 7 month old! CRAZY I know but there isn't much choice on flights between Lanzarote and Seville so it was both ways with the notoriously difficult airline. But kudos to them, they are actually improving and I would definitely fly with them again - in fact we're going to shortly for  four long hours back to London.  Here's the lowdown.

Checkin and baggage allowance: We paid an extra £25 for a 20kg bag since we were going to be there for a couple of weeks as well as £10 to carry our car seat. We later found out the carseat could go along free because you're allowed to carry two baby items without charge but not to worry!




Boarding: Last time I vowed to not carry much with us in the form of hand luggage but once again I was with sombrero in hand, too many toys and an overkill of spare clothes. I promise this time I have learned my lesson. So much so that the hat is still in Seville having quickly been adopted by a family member on my murmur that I might not take it.

Here's the big thing about boarding with Ryanair though - they overbook their on-board luggage allowance so if you're at the back of the line you may have to handover your bags for storage with the checkin's. Also as I've mentioned before Ryanair doesn't give priority to those traveling with babies so either hightail it to the front of the line, hang out at the counter until the gate is open (yeah right!) or spend the paltry fiver to get priority boarding. I feel in the deepest parts of my soul it would have been worth the cost. But on to happier things.



The flight: As usual you'll be handed a baby seatbelt as boarding - I had a gangly teenager looking chap hand me the belt with trepidation as instructed by his trainer as he enquired as to my prior knowledge of how to use it. I've waved myself through a self proclaimed expert, having used it once before. Nobody should really need to be instructed on how to use this thing. Okay so, when we first flew with the wolf he slept blissfully for most of the flight. That was at five weeks, at seven months not so much. He slept, kind of, awkwardly on my arm, then on his Papis...a seven month old no longer snuggly fits on your lap on an aeroplane chair. It's an uncomfortable time. I have ideas for how to get around this on our next flight which is next week so stay tuned. We did one nappy change - I sent the men off to do that alone so can't report on it, a couple of terribly uncomfortable breast feeds, quiet songs and games before we shoved a Kindle Fire in his face. Thankfully we had a cryer two seats up so any noise our guy was making was drowned out by what for us is merely background music now. Not so great for the SINKS and DINKS.


The disembark: No dramas either way. Much nicer if you have someone keenly waiting to take your child at the other end. Coffee with free hands just tastes better.


A little side note for the practicalities. This time we skipped the slings as we had our pram. Both are good options but having tried both, I'd say for little babies a sling (they sleep through most of it) and for bigger a pram as they are more keen on watching the action and are a hell of a lot heavier. We also always travel with laptops and other electronics so this time we had the laptops, kindle etc at the bottom of the pram so that as we approached the belt we scopped them up to thier trays and collapsed the pram. Then they went back into the main bags on the other side. This seems like a small thing but for some reason it made a difference because we weren't trying to take laptops out of cases in the midst of collapsing the pram and having no free hands.











Sunday, January 10, 2016

Mine, mine, mine!

8:04 AM // by Unknown // No comments

Talking to a two year old is a fun but confusing experience. They lack so much of the vocabulary they need to communicate the big feelings and ideas they have. 

A few weeks ago my little wolf was lying next to me taking his time to go to sleep for the night. In a moment he sat up and started tugging on my pillow saying 'mine, mine, mine!'. 

What did he mean? 

Scenario 1: 
Wolfie: "I don't want to sleep, I'm basically just taking the piss right now to annoy you"
Me: "No more games, you are now seriously pushing the limits"

Scenario 2: 
Wolfie: "I'm a bit uncomfortable, maybe if I change pillows I will be able to sleep better"
Me: "Okay, you can have my pillow if it will help you sleep" 

Scenario 3: 
Wolfie: "I love you mummy and tonight you can sleep with my special Pluto pillow so let's swap pillows"
Me: "My little love, you are very generous sharing your special pillow with me!"

"Mine, mine, mine!" - which conclusion should I jump to? Either my son is being incredibly generous or seeking to manipulate me in the last moments before he enters dreamland. Or actually maybe the kid is just uncomfortable. 

Whatever the scenario, chances are his limited vocabulary at this age will lead him to declare "mine, mine, mine!". 

I did give him my pillow...I'm still not sure what his reasons were but i do know I got the joy of resting my head on the special Pluto pillow that night. 

I like the idea of giving everyone the benefit of the doubt...especially your most treasured ones. 




Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Little Man, Big Wardrobe: the humble singlet

11:18 AM // by Unknown // , , , // No comments

Before the little wolf was born I searched in vain for some singlets for him. Don't know what I'm talking about? That probably means you're not antipodean like me. They are referred to as vests in England and apparently they don't even exist for babies! What!? Madness since they are the best thing ever. When it's cold, they keep them warm and when it's warm, they are perfect to cruise around the house in and even better for nighttime sleeping. That being said, I've had to have them shipped and carried by friends and fam from Australia and here's a look at why they are so awesome.

If you want some, Bonds  is best and they deliver internationally if you need it but if you're in Oz or NZ you have a plethora of options including Target, Kmart and just about everywhere you can buy clothes for little ones - you are spoiled for choice! I think overall, the singlet is the most useful item in the wolf's wardrobe.