International Travelling.... And so it begins!

This is the first time I'll be travelling on a plane with all four of our boys.  Our last plane adventure was when boy number 3 was around 4 months old.  He slept the whole way there and back; utter bliss.  

When we booked the flights I was so excited, as not only was this the first time returning to my ancestral home since my wedding 4 years ago, but the first hot family holiday in almost two years, our last being St John Du Monte, South West France; a fantastic holiday, but that's for another post!

I hadn't really thought through the logistics, until now!  So.  A husband that hates mornings, we have to be at the airport by 7am.  A teenager who hates mornings and is generally grumpy anyway, a 10 year old who will be so excited he'll be talking the ear off of anyone that passes close enough to hear him; and I mean anyone!  A 4 year who cannot remember being on an aeroplane before and is excited, wait til he actually sees the plane!  Last but not least, a very active toddler who has never been on a plane, hates to sit down unless food is involved and has the scream of a banshee with cramps.  

I have been super smug in the past as the boys' plane etiquette had always been exemplary, but then that was with the first two whom I travelled with regularly when they were young.  The age gap between them was 9 years so it was relatively easy.  Then when boy number 3 arrived the ease continued, he was so young that every time he murmured I stuck a boob in his mouth, breastfeeding rules!  This time I am not so smug, in fact I have zero confidence and I can imagine the mayhem. 

I'll be that mum trying desperately to calm a screaming baby.  Reassuring an uncertain pre-schooler who'll also want to be carried again and will use the toilet excessively just to be able to watch his efforts get sucked away 'and where to?'  Calming a chatty 10 year old who is annoying a winey teenager who is at breaking point and just wants to get away from his embarrassing family; and as for my husband who will still be a zombie and won't even hear my desperation whilst I bark orders at him to 'hold the baby' keep the teenager away from the 10 year old, push the trolley!'  Well, I say no more.

All surrounding passengers will wish they'd been on a different flight, in amazement at the magnitude of mayhem surrounding the family of boys...  Mummy and Daddy Duck with the little, and great big 6ft 2, ducklings trailing behind!  Think the remake of Cheaper by the Dozen, the scene where Oprah is supposed to turn u and it all goes haywire!  I'd better swallow a bottle of calms tablets and start my military precision planning.

Wish me luck!!!

Tomboy -x