Remembering Travels with a Toddler

Back in 2002, my amazing in-laws decided they were taking us all on a family cruise. I was so pumped! Since my parents taking us to Disney, I had not escaped winter and I had NEVER been on a plane. Also, at work, I had heard so many accounts of wonderful vacations. Living vicariously is fine but I couldn’t wait to experience it for myself!

Now those of you who know me, know I like to plan. I like to research and be aware of everything before I go. I like to CONTROL things. So travelling to a foreign land (lands actually) with a toddler was exciting but also terrifying. I was still new to mothering then, we had our son just 18 months before. I had not yet been worn down by parenting, I was still trying to be Martha Stewart and Mary Poppins rolled into one. Perfection was always the goal. Ha! How that has changed! Parenting has a way of teaching you about “good enough”. But I wasn’t there yet.

So I excitedly and nervously prepared for the trip. So much to do! Travel insurance (find the best one), foreign currency (how much?), arrange animal care, pack perfect outfits for everyone, pack for every possible outcome, Gravol for seasickness, Advil for headaches, Kleenex packs, wet wipes, sunscreens of every level of SPF (chemical-free for the toddler), sun hats, toys and books for the plane (small), soother, makeup (for me, not the babe), liquids in tiny labelled containers and so on… you get the idea. I am not saying I am a freak, but I am “high strung,” which is just a kind and old-fashioned way of saying the exact same thing.

We discovered that Jack loves to travel on that trip. Walking down the airport hotel halls, he was LITERALLY bouncing off the walls (did I mention he was an energetic toddler?) Grandma and I still talk about it, we’d never seen the expression brought to life before. He was too young to completely understand what was going on but, dang he knew it was exciting!

Since I had never before been to an airport and we were travelling with our precious and energetic toddler, I decided it best to be safe rather than sorry, and I bought a harness. Yes, briefly, I was THAT mother. For shame. The woman at the ticket counter questioned me on it. No lie. She said, “Why would you put your child on a leash” So I throat punched her. It is amazing how fast airport security reacts. Kidding! I politely explained myself, but that makes a lousy story.

I put the leash away and we waited to be loaded like cattle onto board the plane. Entertaining the toddler was pretty easy considering he was the first grandchild and we were travelling with doting grandparents, aunt and uncle. The toddler would pretend to pop out of nowhere and we would say “Hi Jack!” it was a good game until someone pointed out that repeatedly calling out “Hijack” was not a great idea just a few months after 9/11.

It was sometime during our wait at the airport when we realized that we didn’t have Jack’s soother. That may not seem like a big deal to those of you who don’t have kids but come nap-time a toddler deprived of his soo-kie will freak out. There will be screaming, railing, punching, crying, writhing and the sudden arch-back-head-smacking thing. And we were about to do this on. a. plane.

He actually did very well. Jack discovered the joy of “Hot Wheels” and the rest of the time he watched “Toy Story” on repeat on a borrowed (because it was super new technology) …laptop. I know!

And we had an awesome trip, we travelled to Saint Lucia (which remains the most beautiful place I have ever been), Grenada, Venezuela, Curacao and Aruba. We travelled around islands, bought spices in Grenada and amazingly, found a soother in a store very reminiscent of the Woolworths I frequented as a child. We sat and people watched while we drank a tropical beer in a sidewalk cafe. We went on a driving tour, hung out by the pool and experienced heat in Venezuela that I didn’t know was possible. Jack became a bit of a celebrity on the ship. Cruise ships have a lot of senior travellers and they loved him! Two ladies even asked if we’d mind taking their picture with Jack, they had enjoyed him so much. The staff also knew him well and would call his name and high-five him wherever we went.

My in-laws came up with a system new parents only dream of, where some of the adults would dine in peace while others fed the wee adored toddler and then we would switch. One evening my in-laws offered to baby-sit. We put Jack to bed in our cabin, leaving the key and baby monitor with the grandparents in the next cabin. We almost gave our poor cabin steward a heart attack when we told him not to go in to turn down the beds because Jack was sleeping in there. In a very panicked and heavily accented voice, he asked us what he should do if the baby cried. Poor guy! Explaining with words and hand signals, we tried to fill him in and headed out for an evening of entertainment. I’m still not sure he was convinced.

It was on Grenada, the spice island, where we almost killed our son. Not on purpose! Just neglect. Jack was in a toddler backpack we borrowed and it was hot! I was hot and sweating and I wasn’t snuggled up to another human. Climbing one of the many hills I looked up at him and noticed he look distinctly wilted. We hadn’t considered that a pale little Canadian toddler, plucked from the freezing temperatures of Ontario, flown to the tropics, balanced on the back of an (also hot and sweating) man in the full sun might find it a wee bit too much. Panicked and guilty we quickly headed in the direction of the air-conditioned ship while searching out a bottle of over-priced water to rehydrate the poor little bugger. (Pictured at the top: John and Jack, on Grenada, shortly before the wilting)

On the flight home, there was a happy, expecting couple who had just “baby mooned,” seated behind us. When we were disembarking, they told us how sweet Jack was and that they were amazed at how well behaved he was. We wished them well as they left smiling at each other; hand in hand blissfully unaware of what they were about to experience and of the fact that Jack had been kicking the seat in front of us all the way home.

If you liked this story, you might also like The Akward Girl’s Guide to Fixing Your Shower.

xxxooo

Callie