How to Prepare for Your Kid’s First Flight… and Learn From It
Gift-wrapped little presents to fight boredom. Snacks in all sorts: cookies, candy, raisins, fruit as well. A tablet with his favorite cartoons, the toys he loved most. We came prepared for our son’s first flight. He was about 18 months old at the time, and we were simply not sure how he would handle just over 3 hours on a plane. The boredom, but also the excitement, accelleration and noise of take off. So we prepared. Read about half of the internet, bought all sorts of gimmicks, and even booked the seats on the first row to have some extra space.
It was exciting, taking him on a flight for the first time. Extending his horizon, visiting a new place. Flying. The problem is, that the more you read about how you can best prepare, the more worried you get. Stories of children running around, crying during just about the whole flight. Well, just have a look around the web and you will see what I mean.
So we were prepared. And we were anxious.
The trip to the airport, security checks, boarding. All went without trouble, and a lot of travel fun and excitement. So far so good. The thing that worried me most was taking off. So when the doors closed and the plane taxied to the runway, I was nervous. And a bit hyper. Then, just as the plane made its last turn onto the runway, or son fell asleep.
He slept about the first hour of the flight. Then we installed him on the floor in front of us. He played with his toys, watched some cartoons. He had fun and he enjoyed the flight. Landing was no problem. He like sitting on his mother’s lap, watching out of the tiny window.
We came prepared, but he didn’t need it. He just enjoyed the right. Months later we still had the gift-wrapped presents in the diaper bag. He taught us not to worry too much. Travel had always been fun for him. Long drives in the car, short trips with tram and train and bus. He loved it all. He was our kid, he enjoyed it just as much as we did. So would his little sister later on when she took her first flight. And the ones after that. They love to travel, and to fly. We could have known. We should have known.
