How to Fly with Kids (One Absent-Minded Mom's Advice)

Two kids, three bags, the documents, the wallet, and the phone. Husband said, just remember this, and you’ll be fine.

I tend to absent minded and I tend to freak out. So I repeated this mantra all the way to London.

Two kids, three bags, the documents, the wallet, and the phone. Two kids, three bags, the documents, the wallet, and the phone.

Then one of the bags was checked out, there was a sleepless night, two kids (alas, only half of them sleepless), and not enough coffee in the world.

I kept repeating my mantra, though in a slightly altered version. Two kids, two bags (plus my purse) (the documents are in the purse) (so is the wallet!) (phew!!). And the phone. And... Sasha’s phone, the iPad, my Kindle, my glasses, Moon cheese (ugh, it’s definitely okay to forget it on the plane...) (where was I?.... the kids? the bags? картинка, корзинка, картонка?...) (oh man, now I have to start over...) Oh yes, the blanket. And the pen. So, the kids, the money, the pen, and the glasses. Do I have ADD or is it really too cold in here?

Anyway.

Two cats, three blankets, the documents, the bag, and the phone. Wait, what?! I need to start with the kids, no? Maybe not, we are on a plane, buckled up, one is sleeping tight and the other... still playing Mindcraft... oh well...

So yes, it was cold on the plane, and why don’t I have a travel pillow, and neither wine nor coffee did their job.

Two kids, three bags with food, the documents (in the purse), the wallet (in the bag), and the phone. And all the other junk we unpacked during the flight...

I managed to read the whole «Пикник на Обочине» (...and you didn’t fall asleep, he asked me later?!...).

Two kids, three documents, plus the immigration papers, the wallet, and the phone. And the bags. And the kids. Great.

I also watched “My Sister’s Keeper.” On the plane. Never watch this movie in public. Needless to say, we ran out of tissue and I had to blame my puffiness on extreme sleep deprivation. What was I thinking pressing that play button?!!

Oh yes. I was thinking: Two kids, three bags, the documents, the wallet, and the phone.

Two kids, three bags, the documents, the wallet, and the phone - made it, finally.

What didn’t make was... Foxy... Foxy (aka Aurora Plush Fox) was to be carried by her owner who couldn’t part with her for four weeks. Foxy found her last refuge at the TSA in Oakland.