Last Friday, Ryder and I flew up to Northern California to visit my parents for the weekend. As often happens to mothers of babies, I was confronted with the dilemma of how to get from Point A to Point B. I’ve gotta tell you, I miss the days of throwing a few things into a suitcase and hopping a plane for a fun weekend getaway. It was easy. There were no logistics involved. Logistics. Oh the logistics.
The packing of the suitcase was pretty easy. I’ve gotten good at that. The hard part is the gear. I knew that I had to bring the car seat. I knew that I could check that with my luggage, so that was no big deal. A few months ago, my mom purchased a Snap and Go to keep at her house. At the time, it seemed like a good idea and an easy solution: I would just bring the car seat with me and not have to worry about my stroller. In theory, this was a good idea. What I didn’t know, was that by the time Ryder was six months old, he would be over his car seat. He wants to sit up and see (and touch) everything around him.
This means that I had to bring the stroller. Now, I love my stroller. LOVE it. But I know that it is not the easiest, most convenient stroller to travel with, especially considering how intense airport security is. In case you didn’t know, when you have a stroller, you have to take the baby out, fold up the stroller and put it through the x-ray machine. It sounds simple enough, but when you have a diaper bag, a squirmy baby and a stroller that is two pieces, it can get a little tricky.
Robert was on his way out of town, so the plan was for him to take us to the airport where I would use curbside check-in. I hadn’t planned the logistics for handling security, I figured I would cross that bridge when I came to it. As we were unloading the car and getting the baby out, a Skycap came over to see if we needed any help. We asked about curbside check-in and he let me know that there was no line inside, if I wanted to go in. I looked at Robert, looked at all of my stuff and looked back at the Skycap. He said that he would be happy to get all of my stuff inside, so he grabbed the car seat and suitcase and I followed him in. He took me right up to the counter, all the while chatting with me about the baby. Wow. That was nice.
After checking in, Ryder and I headed over to the security line. While standing in line, the man behind me started talking to me about his kids and babies in general. As we got to the front, he very graciously offered to help me while I got situated, both before going through security and after. He patiently waited, even though he very easily could’ve just gone through security and been on his way.
On the flight, we were lucky enough to have a window seat with no one in the middle seat. The lady in the aisle seat looked a little unhappy as Ryder and I took our seat. What she didn’t know was that Ryder is a very good flier. After looking out the window until all of the lights were gone, he curled up in my lap and went right to sleep. When we landed in San Francisco, she looked over at us and asked if we would be all right getting off the plane.
We were the last ones off of the plane and I was once again faced with the stroller dilemma (which was waiting for me in two pieces), this time with a sleeping baby in my arms. As I was figuring out the best way to make this happen, the pilot came off the plane. He asked if I was traveling alone and I said yes. He offered to help and said that he would be happy to hold the baby. So as I put my stroller together, Ryder slept in the pilot’s arms.
I am not one of those moms who helplessly looks around, waiting for someone to offer help. I don’t expect people to help me just because I have a six-month-old. I am now, and have always been, pretty self-sufficient. Yet, I was completely blown away by how many people took a few minutes out of their evening to lend a hand. Just as I was beginning to think that “common courtesy” and genorosity in general had gone down the drain, several strangers (in the airport no less) really helped to restore my faith in humanity.
Coming Up: The Flight Home (Watching Grown Men Turn to Mush).
