So at the end of this week, I’m finally doing it.  I’m taking my first solo trip with the two kids.  A six-hour flight across the country, and then back again, all over the course of 4 days.  Honestly, what’s the worst that could happen?

If you’re a parent to young children, or know anything about young children, or have ever been on an airplane, you’re probably wondering if I’m out of my damned mind.

Oddly enough, traveling across the country alone with two toddlers is actually not my my idea of a good time.  But here’s the sitch.  My mom and my sister and my sister’s little family all live in the Portland, Oregon area.  I haven’t seen my sister or her husband or kids since last January, when they came to see me after Ell-Bell was born.  And my mom, who is not retired, managed to visit me twice last year.  So really, by all accounts, it’s my turn to suck it up and do the traveling.

Now ideally, I would bring Hubby with me to share in the blessed nightmare that is traveling with young kids.  But Hubby is a busy resident who was only allotted two weeks of vacation, and we’ve already burned both weeks on other trips to see far-away family.

I wish I could say that I’m totally confident, that I know I’ve got this, but the truth is I am scared out of my mind.  There are so many things that could go wrong, and I can’t help but repeatedly catalogue them in my fragile little brain.

Why not put pen to paper? Maybe if I write my fears down, it will help me process this bundle of anxiety.  So what’s the worst that could happen?  Well, let me think:

• We oversleep and miss our 6AM flight
• Security confiscates all the food I’ve packed for my kids to eat on the plane
• There’s no milk for sale in the shops past security
• Both kids insist on being carried at the same time
• We miss our connection — yay for 55-minute layovers!
• Ell-Bell cries for the entire 6-hour flight
• Ell-Bell refuses to nap on the 6-hour flight
• I urgently need to use the bathroom while Ell-Bell is napping on the 6-hour flight
• K-Man urgently needs to use the bathroom while Ell-Bell is napping on the 6-hour flight
• K-Man pees his pants
• K-Man poops his pants
• Someone vomits
• I lose one or both of my kids in the airport
• I drop dead from exhaustion after carrying all the things

And that’s just the trip over.  I can’t wait to navigate the three-hour time change, hotel sleeping, and making our way back home.

This trip isn’t going to be easy, but hopefully, it will be worth it.  I need to keep reminding myself of the positives that will come out of this:

• I get to spend time with some of my favorite people
• My kids get to bond with their extended family
• I like Oregon
• Hubby gets to have some alone time and focus on his work

After this trip, we will finally be in the black when it comes to family visits.  Which means next time Hubby has some vacation, we can actually take a vacation.  Where should we go?

Until next time,

Vee