So the kids and I are in Miami right now visiting my wonderful parents in their beautiful apartment that literally hangs over Brickell Bay in downtown Miami. It is very hip and trendy and amazing. Picture the opening scenes of CSI: Miami (minus any gruesome crime) and you get the picture. Everything here is clean with modern lines and seemingly in High Definition! :) Inside my parents home it is warm and cozy and wonderful, as always. I commented to Mom and Dad that - despite this being my first time seeing their new place here - it feels SO much like home. I think that is because I pretty much grew up in apartments during the formative years, and our place in Tokyo was an apartment, too. It just feels normal to take an elevator to our front door. ;)
I was SO nervous about getting here, though. Take my adult-onset irrational apprehension of flying and combine it with the nerves of flying with a 3 year old and a 1 year old and I was pretty much a short-tempered mess by the time we boarded the plane. I should have been hoping for the best and not expecting the worst - it was such a waste of my energy to do otherwise! :) Kate and Liam were absolute ANGELS. Now I may be jinxing the trip BACK by saying so, but they really were terrific. To be fair, I had my Mom helping me out - she flew back with me since she was visiting us in Minnesota. She came in extra handy when it came to Liam since he weighs a gagillion pounds!
The kids were so good, though. I was super prepared with snacks and little travel surprises tucked in the carry-on. As their attention span waned on one thing, I was able to whip out, and really "sell" the wonders of, the latest and greatest game of "go-fish alphabet edition", or the most comforting and soothing teething ring ever invented in the history of the world! Ear pressure? How about a nice bottle for Liam and a sucker for Kate? I wondered, when packing, if I was overdoing it, but I really believe that flying in a pressurized tube, with my nerves on edge while sharing the tube with 100+ other passengers is NOT the time to teach kids to entertain themselves with air sickness bags, laminated emergency procedure cards, or a tube of Pringles that costs flippin' FIVE BUCKS from the unreasonable irritable and arrogant Northwest Airlines flight attendant. But that's just me.
So cut to this scene...this acutally happened. My little loves were being sweet, perfect kids. Smiling, being quiet and polite. The passengers that initially gave me glaring looks of death as I seated our gang next to them were smiling and nodding and commenting on the adorable-ness of them. Then the kids even fell asleep, practically causing the other passengers to buy ME a five dollar can of Pringles out of admiration and appreciation. But then someone else's Toddler in 17G woke up. Two rows back. Oh boy.
I feel so bad for that mom. She had three kids with her. And her husband was the fourth. He was NO HELP. He was the kind of guy that kept telling his wife to make "her" son be quiet. The poor little boy was beyond hysterical. He had been sleeping, but had been awoken by the aforementioned arrogant, irritable Flight Attendant who I forgot to mention was unable to control the volume of her voice and spoke VERY LOUDLY. So cranky toddler starts crying, then screaming, then thrashing. The child literally sounded like a strangled goose. Passengers were huffing and glaring and I felt so bad for that mom because he was just beyond being consoled. Sometimes kids just get on a roll and there is nothing you can do. She was practically in tears over this. And her hubby was just an ass. The plane was not full and people were getting up and moving. You know, all extra huffy with extra large movements. Like they could not just unbuckle their seat belt and stand up, it had to be with a dramatic click, throwing the belt so it hits the arm and clangs and then standing up with a giant heaving breath etc.
I sat for a while debating on whether I should offer one of my lollipop suckers. Something like that could either stop the crying immediately or only make it worse. Plus I did not want to offend the parents and imply that they could not handle it. But no one could. This kid was on another planet. It happens. I mean, it could easily be - and has been to some degree in the past - me and my kids!!!!!
So after 30 minutes or so, I stood up like I was going to walk to the back of the plane. The other passengers who had noted my well behaved children looked at me with wild frustration as if trying to get me to agree that this kid was the Devil himself riding in 17G. I had tucked a sucker discreetly in my hand and when I noticed that the Dad of the Toddler Terror caught my eye, I sort of flashed it like a drug deal or something and mouthed the words "would he want a sucker"? Really just sweet and laid back like I was not in the least bothered. All the adult passengers saw this and watched the whole exchange with great hope. The dad -who by the way, TOTALLY had highlights in his hair and was uber-tan and all gelled while poor mom was rockin' the tired ponytail, jeans and a sweatshirt...when does SHE get a spa day, buddy? - anyway, the dad looks at me and practically yells at me "NO! NO SUCKER FOR HIM. HE HAS TO LEARN"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Passengers literally threw up their hands. Did the kid have to learn NOW?!
So, despite my angel babies, we all listened to the kid in 17G "learn" for NINETY MINUTES until he cried himself to sleep. I should have just passed my bag of suckers around the whole plane.
More Miami tales to come! Nick arrives tonight and we are looking forward to pool time with the kids, the Miami Sea-quarium and many more sunny adventures.
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