Come fly with me

This is a pretty good "traveling with tots"  post. I didn't bother reading the suggestions for infants, since infants are a totally captive audience and they get they get, and I didn't bother reading the older kids section either, since a seven-year-old ought to be able to figure some of that stuff out her herself, plus they can read. The preschooler's list is good, though. I was especially entertained to see "blue painter's tape" on anyone's must-take list but ours. We've been carrying painter's tape since the earliest days of child-proofing, since you can use if to tape up cabinets and cordon off dangerous areas and, in a pinch, keep a small child in his chair, I suppose. Now that they're too smart and too big to be kept in line by a merely suggested barrier like a piece of tape, we still carry it because it's diverting and harmless. Just don't give them the whole roll at once. Seriously.

Missing from the list is my kids' current favorite not-running-around-making-noise toy: my iPhone. It's annoying as hell to have people constantly stealing your phone when you want to use it, but since you can't use it on the plane anyway load it up with kid-friendly apps, put it in airplane mode, and let 'em go crazy. Also, give them snacks that are bad for them (thus rare and valued) and take a long time to eat, A snack-sized bag of potato chips, doled out chip by chip, buys a half hour of contented munching, plus many opportunities to practice "please?' and "thank you."

Toddler-having friends and I all note the lack of a magic slate/Magnadoodle/Aquadoodle/dwawing thing. You need one of those. Everyone likes the idea of the pipe cleaners and the Colorforms, most of us bring little boxes or bags filled with small surprises which can then be refilled with whatever as long as unpacking them gives the kids something to do, everyone relies heavily on sticker books, and it's probably not a good idea to bring a large inflatable ball on an airplane. 

Well, actually, I think it's a great idea, but nobody around us would agree.

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