Flying the Not-So-Friendly Skies

If you've spent any time around I Am Not Your Mom lately you are probably familiar with Brian's recent (and graphically described) scuffle with the old influenza bug. Brian, thanks for the visuals.

I'll spare you the details of my own (or rather my wife's) experience of late, but I did want to pass along a few things I've learned as a result.

You see, we spent the holidays with family in Denver. On the 2 hour flight home from Denver to Nashville, my wife spent the better part of that delightful trip filling up multiple (3 to be exact) "sickness bags" in her seat next to the window. While she puked repeatedly for about an hour and a half, and was generally in a state of utter discomfort, I spent the ride with our 1 year old Lucy on my lap, trying to keep her from completely melting down as she squirmed, squealed, moaned and tried to put everything within reach in her mouth, including the shirt and pen of the complete stranger seated next to us. I must admit I was all but a complete failure at trying to comfort my miserable wife and occupy our fidgety daughter at the same time. In my defense however, I'd like to point out that I was trying to perform these tasks inside of a space about half the size of a porta-potty, with a complete stranger in there with us. It was a long 2 hours.

So here is what I learned from this little adventure:

1. The folks at Frontier are more than helpful and accommodating when you are making good use of their tiny barf bags.

2. A one year old will sit quietly and patiently while you attend to her sick mother, unless any of the following conditions exist: a) She has hands and feet and is capable of swinging and flailing them, b) There are other people around for her to disturb and impose herself upon, c) She is both alive and awake at the same time.

3. Things, like traveling, which used to be minimally labor intensive pre kid-in-the-family are now major undertakings.

About this last point - in a lot of ways, my wife and I have paid a high price and have sacrificed much to bring our daughter Lucy into our family. But she is such a joy to us, it is a price we would gladly pay over and over again. This is a significant point, and I'll expand on it in a later post.

For now, remember: If you, or your wife, get nauseous on a plane ride, chew on some pickled ginger. Don't happen to have pickled ginger with you? Give cola syrup a try. If you can't find either of these, suck on a lemon wedge - that's what we did (who in the 21st century carries around pickled ginger, or cola syrup anyway?).