These past few weeks have been nothing short of manic, and the frantic pace continues until mid-August. Â I just wanted to apologize for last week’s lack of posts (but seriously, how amazing is Peek?) and express the same sentiment in advance. Â Posting will be erratic, but you can always keep in touch with me via Instagram & Facebook! Â Now, onto today’s business.
Like most of my favorite blogs, I can’t remember exactly when I stumbled across Raluca’s What Would Gwyneth Do? Â My love-hate feelings for GOOP are no secret on this blog (as seen here, but she did feature me in her issue #6, so there’s that). Â Her beautifully written, inspiring blog also delves into a topic that has started to terrify me less and excite me more – motherhood. Â While babies are still some years away, I love reading WWGD’s “I Don’t Know How She Does It” feature and Raluca’s own observations on juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship. Â I especially love that she dispenses valuable traveling-with-kids advice in her En Route With… feature. Â Welcome, Raluca!
Raluca State
PR Consultant | Blogger, What Would Gwyneth Do | Mother of 2
I am a lazy packer when it comes to me and an adept packer when it comes to my kids. For my things, I usually lay everything I need out on the bed, grouping together outfits for each day/night of my trip. Then I turn to my husband with puppy dog eyes and beg him to put it all into the suitcase for me, saving room for last-minute additions, of course. I believe in rolling, he believes in folding, so folding usually wins. We are fairly last-minute about it – checking weather forecasts the night before the departure and then letting that dictate what to bring. We try to carry on if we are going domestic, but are not horribly opposed to checking in bags if it means less headaches during connections and the like. If we are road tripping, which we do often to places like Palm Springs, it gets a little out of hand and we end up with a trunk full of stuff. We need to work on that. When it comes to my kids, I prep one small suitcase or bag for each of them, to keep their things separated and organized. My daughter is six now and can roll around her own little suitcase, which is great, and my son’s stuff goes in a weekender. He is only two and a half and of course, he has the most essentials. I am also a firm believer in stress-free packing. As long as we have our passports, wallets and one favorite stuffie per kid, we can realistically find anything else we may forget on the road.
I like to get to the airport about 90 minutes before a long-haul flight, an hour for a quick jaunt up the coast. We typically fly out of San Diego airport, which is smaller than most and fairly efficient, so that gives us some flexibility. We (my husband and I) are pretty seasoned travelers so we know how to breeze through security, but our littles are still in training so we allow some extra time when we’re with them. Thankfully they are very good listeners so they move along pretty quickly. Must-stops before boarding are always coffee, the magazine stand for bottled water and reading material and potty breaks for everyone. By that point, we spend very little time sitting at the gate…which is a good thing. The time we do have there is spent planted by the windows oohing and aahing at the planes going by. I think the window seats at the gate should be reserved for little kids – their excitement is contagious!
When I am kid-free, I just enjoy being kid-free. Read, listen to music, watch a movie…enjoy the silence. I prefer to avoid work if I can, I kind of hate that they have wi-fi on planes now because I feel guilty if I am not working…I don’t like to drink alcohol on planes (for some strange reason), so I usually stick to water and maybe some cheese and crackers and fruit. Or a ginger ale if we are having turbulence. I am fine with a window or an aisle…as long as it’s not the middle. And I try to sit as close to the front as possible, my parents always did that and it stuck with me.
With my kids, there isn’t much silence to enjoy. My six-year-old is easy now, she can occupy herself with the personal TV (thank you, Air Canada!), books, etc. My son is only two and a half and much more challenging. So I spend most of my time with him trying to keep him engaged and entertained…snacks come in handy, as do brand new books and toys he hasn’t seen before. He also loves the flight tracker screen so we usually sneak a few peeks at that along the way. We are lucky because he is really well-behaved for the most part, but he IS two and he didn’t ask to be stuck on a plane for hours on end, so we try very hard to keep him busy and trouble-free. Always befriend the flight attendants. Most of the ones we have met love kids and are SO good at coming by with tricks and snacks to entertain…a stranger is always more fun than mama. And always try to book a whole row together so you can put up the arm rests and give your kids some extra breathing room between seats. And don’t tolerate seat kicking. Ever. If you’re not firm about it from the get-go, you will spend your whole flight apologizing to the people in front of you.
– scarf – charger – mints – facial spray – glasses –
– brain teasers – hand sanitizer – lip balm – tote –
– makeup bag – Kindle & case –
– magnetic board games – lucky charms –
