This last January my husband and I decided to take our two little ones to Disneyland for a few days to celebrate my daughters 2nd birthday. My mother-in-law works for an airline, so we were able to fly stand-by at minimal cost. Little did we know how difficult it would be to fly with a almost 2 year old and a 5 month old.

First we had to get from the car to the ticket counter with both kids, our giant stroller, both car seats and all our luggage. We strapped the kids into the stroller, my husband carried all our luggage and I balanced my daughters car seat on top of the stroller.

Once we made it to the ticket line the tricky part was trying to keep my little girl, Lexi, entertained without taking her out of the stroller. This was not easy and Lexi was begging to be held, which was impossible because of all the other stuff my husband and I were holding. So, she ended up crying through most of the line inspite of the funny faces, noises, and movements that my husband and I were trying to use to make her happy. Don’t you love the looks people give you when your kid is throwing a fit and you are trying every possible thing you can think of to make them stop, but it is just not working.

We made it to the ticket counter and somehow we managed to have all the important documents that were needed. Then came time to weigh the bags, I was praying that the diaper/toy/formula stuffed bag would not be over the weight limit. Luckily it was just under, so we didn’t have to pay any extra money.

On to check our bags through security. We wheeled all our stuff over and handed my daughters car seat and our luggage off to the airport staff. This was wonderful, because now all I had to manage was the stroller with our two kids and my husband could carry all of our carry-on luggage.

We thought it would be smooth sailing the rest of the trip… wrong! Going through security with two kids was so much work. When we finally got through the line we had to remove our shoes, the kids shoes, our coats, the kids coats, take the car seat out of the stroller, collapse the stroller, and then put everything up on the conveyer belt and walk through security. Then once we were through security we had to put our shoes back on, put the kids shoes back on, put our coats back on, put the kids coats back on, set the stroller back up, put the carseat back in the stroller, load the kids in the stroller again and get all of our carry-on luggage. The looks we got during this process were even better than in the ticket line when my daughter was throwing crying her eyes out. I wanted to scream at some of the people, “Yes, we are crazy for traveling with two kids under the age of 2, but we want our kids to have life experiences and if you don’t like it you should have picked another line!”

So, we made it through security and that had to be the worst part right? Wrong again!

We were flying stand-by and so that early boarding for people traveling with small children was not really us. We waited a little bit and then we got to board the plane. We take the stroller down the terminal and unload the kids right before we step on the plane. My husband, Travis, gets Lexi out of the stroller and I get our 5 month old son, Hunter. As I am lifting Hunter out of his car seat I can feel that his back is all wet. Oh, please no! I turn Hunter around and take a look at his back. Sure enough he has had a huge blow out! We walk on to the plane and I look desperately at the flight attendant and tell her I need to change him now. She directs me to the bathroom at the very front of the plane.

I never realized just how small airplane bathrooms are until this diapering experience. The changing table folds down from the side wall, which is at an angle, so it is like changing your baby in a small triangle area. I had to take all the clothes off of Hunter and dig through the diaper bag for a new outfit. The entire time I am in this bathroom Hunter is screaming like he has never screamed in his life! He is such a good baby and for some reason he just lost it. My husband was out sitting in his seat with our little girl and the guy next to him leaned over and said, “Did they bring a pig on the plane or something?” I don’t remember if my husband claimed the screeching little boy as his own or not. Back in the bathroom I have managed to change our screaming baby and am ready to start washing out his clothes, but I have pretty much had it. I put the dirty clothes in a plastic bag and throw the outfit in the trash, good bye outfit. Now I pick Hunter up and take a look in the mirror. I am sweating like crazy and look like I have been in a train wreck. I am sure all nursing Moms can relate to what happens when your child is screaming like crazy. I decide to focus on the good, which is Hunter has stopped crying now that I have picked him up, probably more from exhaustion than anything else.

I step out of the bathroom and this flying adventure hits its peak when I find that the whole plane has boarded and that I am standing at the front of the plane with all eyes on me and my baby. Now the looks I got from people at this point were the best by far, you would think that I was a terrorist or something. I hug Hunter a little closer and start walking down the aisle. I can almost hear the people sighing in relief as I pass their row and I can see the people in front of me secretly praying, “Please don’t sit by me!”. Finally I hit my row and see a man sitting next to my empty seat. I turn to him and say, “Aren’t you glad we get to sit by you?”. He smiles at me and says, “Don’t worry I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old waiting for me at home.” Thank you, someone who understands what being a parent is like!

I seriously considered just moving to California after this flight in order to avoid the plane ride home, luckily that flight went a lot better than this one.

I could give you some tips on flying, but my little girl who has been sitting on my lap as I type this just peed all over my leg so I am off to shower! Happy Parenting and Happy Flying to all of you who are daring enough to try after reading this post!