Everyone kept saying, "but aren't you excited about going overseas?" When asked this S and I would shuffle our feet and sigh and mention making it through the flight. At anytime holding J is like holding a bag of yabbies as his mudgeegong grandpa would say. And it's a long way to London even if you stop in Singapore and our little munchkin had been sick.
He got a fever the wednesday before we left. People's reactions were mixed; some shared horror stories of their own (helpful) or blithely told us we'd be fine. It wasn't as if we weren't prepared. After reading Sacha's blog on the SMH site about taking his little girl Edie to Germany and reading all the comments we had a bag full of diversions, trinkets, toys and food and necessities for j. In fact so full that I could barely lift it. In retrospect he probably didn't need 22 books and a whole packet of milk arrowroots but you never know. I had crayons (not used), Bubbles (not used), star shaped post it notes (likewise), sultanas (flung to all parts of the plane but momentarily diverting), food, food and more food (thank goodness) and yes we had drugs - for him. Some one suggested that we buy some phenergan. Not for J but for us so we would be blissfully comatose while he wrecked the plane. But he didn't wreck the plane. All things considered he did really well.
At Mascot we got there just before the mob arrived to check in. We had a very nice woman who kindly overlooked our baggage being about 30kg overweight. At customs we were put through the express queue and 30 minutes into our adventure I was beginning to think there was an upside to travelling with kids. When we boarded we had a good spot and had scored a bassinet. I thought that was a bit of a lottery but apparently not with Singapore Airlines. They also give you a bag with a bib, nappy and a really ugly toy which you then have to find a place for before
takeoff. We gave Jack some kiddy panadol for his lingering just not feeling well and he was asleep when we took off. He slept for a while but when he woke up he was grouchy and he cried a little. And he woke up because we had to take him out of the bassinet due to turbulence (that's the rule no matter how peaceful they look. He ended up sleeping in his dad's arms (which went numb) with my arms pinned underneath (drat so I couldn't reach a book or my mini movie screen).
The next day was a longer flight but this time we knew what we were doing (sort of) and the Jack bag had been repacked. We found that we were sitting near another baby and his mum with a seat between us. The day before this seat had been blocked so I assumed it would be the same to London but then this poor lady appeared - the meat in the baby sandwich. Luckily she was a granny and a very nice one at that and offered all sorts of help (then scarpered when she found a spare seat somewhere else - but who could blame her?)
The plane was delayed at the gate while they screwed the wings back on (joking it was the radar) and jack was once again asleep for takeoff. He had some big sleeps while his dad's arms went numb again and I got to catch up on some chickflicks (seriously fluffy movies enchanted, 27 dresses and dan in real life). And we took turns eating. I take my hat off to the woman next to us with the little boy. He wasn't as mobile as jack but she didn't have any help and she did really well. S was fantastic with jack though it was decided that I would take over nappy changing duties as there was barely room for S in the bathroom let alone him and Jack.
So we were doing well, jack was sleeping without drugs but the time dragged on past. Particularly the last couple of hours. We started getting grouchy especially when people tickled jack's feet and woke him up or did their stretching in front of S - bum in face anyone?
And then we tumbled out into the melee that is heathrow. No express for people with tired cranky babies, just long, long queues and a lovely man in a too big suit with our name on a card waiting to whisk us away.
He got a fever the wednesday before we left. People's reactions were mixed; some shared horror stories of their own (helpful) or blithely told us we'd be fine. It wasn't as if we weren't prepared. After reading Sacha's blog on the SMH site about taking his little girl Edie to Germany and reading all the comments we had a bag full of diversions, trinkets, toys and food and necessities for j. In fact so full that I could barely lift it. In retrospect he probably didn't need 22 books and a whole packet of milk arrowroots but you never know. I had crayons (not used), Bubbles (not used), star shaped post it notes (likewise), sultanas (flung to all parts of the plane but momentarily diverting), food, food and more food (thank goodness) and yes we had drugs - for him. Some one suggested that we buy some phenergan. Not for J but for us so we would be blissfully comatose while he wrecked the plane. But he didn't wreck the plane. All things considered he did really well.
At Mascot we got there just before the mob arrived to check in. We had a very nice woman who kindly overlooked our baggage being about 30kg overweight. At customs we were put through the express queue and 30 minutes into our adventure I was beginning to think there was an upside to travelling with kids. When we boarded we had a good spot and had scored a bassinet. I thought that was a bit of a lottery but apparently not with Singapore Airlines. They also give you a bag with a bib, nappy and a really ugly toy which you then have to find a place for before
takeoff. We gave Jack some kiddy panadol for his lingering just not feeling well and he was asleep when we took off. He slept for a while but when he woke up he was grouchy and he cried a little. And he woke up because we had to take him out of the bassinet due to turbulence (that's the rule no matter how peaceful they look. He ended up sleeping in his dad's arms (which went numb) with my arms pinned underneath (drat so I couldn't reach a book or my mini movie screen).The next day was a longer flight but this time we knew what we were doing (sort of) and the Jack bag had been repacked. We found that we were sitting near another baby and his mum with a seat between us. The day before this seat had been blocked so I assumed it would be the same to London but then this poor lady appeared - the meat in the baby sandwich. Luckily she was a granny and a very nice one at that and offered all sorts of help (then scarpered when she found a spare seat somewhere else - but who could blame her?)
The plane was delayed at the gate while they screwed the wings back on (joking it was the radar) and jack was once again asleep for takeoff. He had some big sleeps while his dad's arms went numb again and I got to catch up on some chickflicks (seriously fluffy movies enchanted, 27 dresses and dan in real life). And we took turns eating. I take my hat off to the woman next to us with the little boy. He wasn't as mobile as jack but she didn't have any help and she did really well. S was fantastic with jack though it was decided that I would take over nappy changing duties as there was barely room for S in the bathroom let alone him and Jack.
So we were doing well, jack was sleeping without drugs but the time dragged on past. Particularly the last couple of hours. We started getting grouchy especially when people tickled jack's feet and woke him up or did their stretching in front of S - bum in face anyone?
And then we tumbled out into the melee that is heathrow. No express for people with tired cranky babies, just long, long queues and a lovely man in a too big suit with our name on a card waiting to whisk us away.
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