After a nice visit with my parents, it was time for Ryder and I to head home. After all the hassle on the way up, I decided that Iwould request a security pass for my mom so that she could help us to the gate. It worked out great and we sailed through security very easily. I was jonesing for a cookie, so we stopped at a dessert stand on the way to the gate. Now, when we left the check-in desk, our plane was on time. By the time we got to the gate, our plane was delayed an hour. Poop. My mom had to get back to work, so she kissed us goodbye and we were on our own.
On the way to the gate the first time, I had noticed a door with “Nursery” on the door plate. I knew that Ryder was probably going to be hungry soon, so I went to check it out. The room was small, but it was quiet and there was a changing table and a comfy chair to sit and feed the baby. And did I mention it was quiet? It was a great spot to escape the hustle and bustle of SFO.
After awhile we went back to the gate where Ryder ate some carrots and quietly played with his “crunchy” book. As the passengers were getting ready to board the plane, a man came up to us. He said that he had been watching Ryder and that he was such a good boy and he was really impressed. He then went into this long-winded explanation about how he worked for Huggies and that the Kirkland diapers at Costco were made by Huggies and they were the best diapers and I should buy them (how about a free pack for my well behaved son, huh buddy?). I just smiled and thanked him and got ready to board.
I learned my lesson this time and didn’t even worry about taking my stroller apart. I just took Ryder out, told the flight attendant that it was there and went to my seat. By this time, Ryder had been in either a car seat or stroller for the past couple of hours. I knew that he was restless and was just hoping that he could hold out for awhile before having a meltdown. It didn’t help matters that we were on the world’s smallest airplane! Seriously, I have never been on such a tiny little plane! I swear the thing was only about ten feet across. Ryder and I were pretty much sitting on the lap of the passenger in the next seat. Who, by the way, looked a little thugish. I felt kind of bad, I was pretty sure that he was gritting his teeth when we sat down.
Across the aisle from us was another young college-aged kid and next to him was Mr. Huggies. My first thought was that if we had had some women around us, they might be a little more understanding of a restless kid. Oh well. I was just happy that it was a short flight.
Ryder was restless for the flight, but he was in a good mood. He was smiling, laughing, jumping and “talking”. After about ten minutes, Thug College Kid took his earphones off and started talking to Ryder. After about twenty minutes, College Kid #2 was holding his out to Ryder across the aisle and talking to him. Five minutes later, Mr. Huggies started telling CK #2 about what a good kid Ryder was. About this time, Ryder erupted into a huge fit of giggles and squeals. Man. Those guys were goners. I swear they all “awww”ed at the same time. Ryder had won them over.
