Here's what I learned, it's very simple really:
1. You can't make everything right for your children. However, you can prepare them, comfort them, and be there for them.
2. Buy Starbucks cake pops. These can be used (along with an iPad) to coax a toddler off the floor who is melting down at the terminal gate over putting the mask back on. There are no promises this will work, but it's worth a try! What in life isn't made a bit better by chocolate, sprinkles, and your favorite show?
Without getting into the to-mask or not-to-mask discussion, can we all agree it's slightly bonkers to require a young toddler to wear a mask on an airplane, whether or not they have special needs or a note from a doctor?! I read the horror stories before we left about entire families being kicked off the plane because a two-year-old kept pulling his mask off. But here's the thing, we wanted to get to England. We weren't going to get to England without our toddler wearing a mask on that plane. An acquaintance mentioned surely there would be lawsuits in the future for parental rights.
My husband's response: "We don't have time for a lawsuit." Ha! Touché.
To add to the excitement we were experiencing, during our layover we thought we'd lost our passports and visas...you know, the magical pieces of paper we'd waited for over a year! My head felt light and things began to swirl a bit.
More advice:
Stay calm. Will yourself to breathe.
We eventually found the precious documents hidden in a dark crevice of the double stroller!
I desperately want the world to be fine for my children, but guess what? It's not. The world is not fine. But it does still hold so much value, beauty, and opportunity. All I can do is advocate in the ways possible for me and then take her hand (providing she's not already darted off) and guide her toward the good, training her to be ready for the bad, and looking for beauty-and chocolate- the whole way home.
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