Well, that’s not precisely true. My parents took me to Disneyland when I was 3 months old. They’ve always said “We’ve *taken* you to Disneyland.” That was really unfair, wasn’t it?

We did a lot of traveling before we had kids and it took us longer than you would believe possible to accept that our typical vacation schedule would have to change.

We recently got back from a week in San Francisco. Before kids we would have stayed at a boutique hotel in town, taken public transport and walked around the city, eaten delicious food in ethnic restaurants… you get the picture. This time around: an airport hotel (only place which would accept us at short notice with three kids), lots of driving, lots of “crowd control” (control of our crowd of boisterous children) and in the end, two tired parents and very little seen.

But what we did see, at the kids’ pace, they enjoyed. We also changed our plans for the last two days to include the beach and the forest, which they proclaimed the best parts of the trip. So much for San Francisco, but I do consider it a successful vacation.

As for asking airline employees – great tip! Never be afraid to ask. And keep asking. On our flight back the five of us had been assigned seats in different places all around the plane. I asked at every point in the process and nobody could help us. Until I got to the gate, where they spent 20 minutes shuffling people around so we had a whole row. I know three under 7s can’t sit alone but the most I had expected was to split the kids between me and my husband.

Oh, and …. Disneyland? Las Vegas? I wish!

AMY:
I agree 100% with your suggestion to arrange for the kids to BURN OFF ENERGY before expecting them to sit for long periods of time. Look at it as a required part of any trip — even if it’s just to a local family restaurant — let the kids run around like crazy in a safe place ahead of time. I see so many parents who are aggravated that their kids can’t/won’t sit still in restaurants, religious services or airplanes…but kids have HUGE needs for energy expenditure; I always suggest at least 45 minutes a day. You can talk to them in advance about how you will arrange for them to run around…and then they will help out and have good manners by sitting still for awhile, playing quietly, etc. —Hope you have a great road trip!

PATRICIA:
Snacks are HUGE, I totally agree. And ditto for the car seat suggestion: It is a strong cue to baby that they are now safety cuddled into THEIR seat, and they know what is expected of them…to sit quietly, (and Please God to nap a little!) Shelpping thru the airport with all that stuff is a challenge, but there are some great stroller/wheeled products out that can make it workable. One trip thru the airport, I had a baby in a Bjorn, a huge backpack full of baby/kid stuff on my back, was pushing a stroller with a toddler, and pulling a wheeled carseat bag behind me…while Hubby monitored the preschooler AND carried 2 huge 23-pound carseats, PLUS another carryon! Quite a scene..but we sure got our workout…and it was a real boon to have the carseats on board.

BPD:
I am a HUGE fan of Disneyland…people thought we were nuts, arranging for 5 nights in Anaheim, right around the 4th of July. But it was AMAZING, and we stayed an extra day…and I had to tear Hubby away…he wanted to stay yet ANOTHER day! I think we had just found the right strategy for managing the kids and the park. I can’t wait to go back. (What are your favorite rides? Mine are Soarin’ Over California and STAR TOURS….my geek streak coming out!)

And then you got to go home to Hawaii??

Sign me up.

Oh, yeah, blah blah blah traveling with kids pithy comment here blah blah blah something on point here blah blah blah.

I love Disneyland.

Also, YMMV, but we tried sitting her in the airplane seat without her carseat (we used this FAA approved harness thing called CARES), and while it is a hassle to lug the carseat onto the plane, it worked WAY better for my girl. She was cued that when she’s in the seat, she’s IN the seat, so she wasn’t constantly asking to “walk, peese.” Also, airplane seats = not meant for toddlers. None of us were comfortable on the way there.

Also, SNACKS. LOTS OF SNACKS. We had practically an entire snack food grocery on the plane with us. Eating helped with the ear pressurization issues, and most kids will happily eat when they are bored. We were fans of dehydrated and dried fruit, teddy grahams, and cheese crackers. Also, since we were traveling, meals were irregular at best, and keeping her stuffed full of snacks helped keep her happy. Was it the most nutritious thing ever? Nope, but she didn’t go hungry!

I’ll stop now. Hope this can be a little helpful to someone.

For this trip, I’m in the wedding, so our schedule will be determined by other people (what with rehearsals, appointments, etc.). Not being in control of when and what we get to do is hard for even for me and harder yet for a small child, so I’m planning to bracket the trip with stuff that is fun for the tot. We’re going to a hotel with a pool, so when we get there and just before we leave, I’ll take her to the pool. It’ll burn up some of her energy and hopefully leave her with some good memories too. Going to the pool is not what I would choose to do with my free time there, but the payoff will be worth it if it yields a happier kid.