This post was inevitable. I tried to find a way around it but it's just not going to happen. I would like to dedicate this post to my sweet baby girl Kennedy.
It was a Saturday morning about a month ago, and I was having a moment of weakness when my mom called. After hearing her chat with my 3 year old via speakerphone I decided a trip to Grammy's house was overdue. Within an hour our flights to sunny south Florida were booked. It wasn't until I clicked "purchase tickets" on the Air Tran website that it hit me. I would be traveling with a 3 year old and a 15 month old. Alone. My immediate reaction was panic but I assured myself we would be fine and went along with my day.
The month flew by and before I knew it I was printing our boarding passes. Next thing I know our date of travel had arrived. I did everything I could to prepare for our adventure. Double stroller? Check. Diaper bag? Check. DVD player with movie assortment? Check. Sippie cups? Check. Children's Dramamine? Check. Snacks? You name it, I had it. Pretzels, Cheez-Its, Pringles, tootsie pops, Twizzlers, Skittles, bubble gum...my carry on bag looked like a freaking convenience store. There is nothing on this earth that could have prepared me for what would turn out to be the trip from hell.
I woke up that morning with my "game face" ON. Having worked for myself for so long I am a firm believer in positive affirmations. I told myself, "Holiday, this is going to be great. We are going to have a wonderful, easy and relaxing trip." Yeah, not so much.
In a nutshell the trip was one of the most stressful days of my life. From the second we loaded the girls in the car, Kennedy started with her whining and screeching. My sweet husband dropped us off at curbside check-in and when he kissed me good bye I could have sworn he whispered "good luck, hunny" in my ear. I strapped the girls into the stroller, and we were on our way. Amazingly enough, security was a breeze, but by the time we got to our gate Kennedy was in full blown scream mode. She screamed for an entire hour, and nothing would calm her down. I even called Corey from the gate and told him if she didn't stop he was going to have to come back and get us. Of course by the time boarding started she calmed down. Or so I thought.
I took the necessary precautions for traveling with a baby- she had a full dose of Children's Dramamine as approved by her pediatrician, and I figured it was just a matter of time before she gave up. After an hour she showed no signs of drowsiness so I gave her more. Still, nothing. She kicked and screamed like a bucking bronco throughout the entire flight. She even got dirty looks from my 3 year old daughter Elizabeth. "Kennedy! Stop screaming! We're on the airplane and we're going to GRAMMY'S!" Nope. Nada. This kid didn't care.
The rest is just a blur. All I know is that eventually we landed and got off the plane. And standing at the end of the terminal was my mom (a.k.a. Grammy). The smile on her face when she saw us come around the corner made every scream, kick and dirty look worthwhile. To know that by enduring a few hours of hell meant giving my kids a week's worth of memories with her, well, that's just priceless. Hopefully one day my girls will do the same for me, and I'm pretty sure the karma train will come back around sooner or later. Just sayin'.
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