Flying the friendly skies

It's been a while since Avery and I have flown on a commercial airline - at least a good 6 months or more - before she was walking! Now that she has that little independent streak, she hardly ever wants to be carried or to sit in a stroller. She definitely doesn't want to sit in my lap on an airplane! We flew from Raleigh to Atlanta on October 19, which, thank God is only an hour flight. As soon as we got to our seat, the man next to me says "Are you sure you don't need 2 seats?" I think he knew what his plane ride was going to be like with a 20 month old sitting on her mother's lap! I said "No, thanks". There wasn't an empty seat on the plane anyway and we were lucky enough to be on that flight. So, we sit down. About 10 minutes into the flight the madness started. She was screaming "I walk, I walk!" for what seemed like an eternity, so, I put her down in the aisle next to me. She was so happy! She didn't want to walk, but just stand there and look at everyone. Her happiness was shortlived by the stewardess that said "Ma'am I am sorry I know she is upset but she is going to have to stay in your lap!". Great! So, up she came and then started the hysterics of "I walk, I get down, I walk, I get down" I felt really bad for the passengers around us but kept telling myself they should be glad it's only an hour flight! She would calm down for a few minutes but then realized that she wanted down again and would start screaming. So, I tried to let her stand on the floor in between my legs (hidden from the stewardess) which just wasn't cutting it. About 30 minutes into the flight I came up with a brilliant idea... let's take a trip to the bathroom! So, in the stall we go, we stayed in there so long that I was scared the stewardess had caught on and would ask us to leave our little playground. I just had to forget about the germs that were all around us and be thankful for the silence! Once we came out of the bathroom and went back to our seats, we found something to occupy us - Mommy's water bottle - the best $2.50 I ever spent at an airport! Lucky me! I had to ignore the fact that she was taking the top off and rubbing it all over the seat coushin in front of us, then putting it back on, then opening it and drinking! Ugh! Can you imagine the germs?!!! By the end of the trip she was no longer screaming "I get down" but "Trouble, trouble, trouble" because I kept saying "You'll get us in trouble if you get down"! I wonder what people were thinking then! Needless to say it will be a while before we travel by commercial plane again!