Graham and I went to Dallas this weekend to visit my mom and sister. We had a great time...except for trying to get through the airport by myself with a 2 1/2 year old. I had bought tickets on Southwest for $32 each way which is a great deal...the only bad part was the flight I could get was at 8:30pm. I thought that I would try to get an earlier flight so I had Mick pick me up at work on Friday at 4:30 so I could get to the airport early! Well, we get to the airport and I can't do curbside baggage check b/c I'm going to try to fly standby on another flight (mind you it is only 5pm a this point). I have Graham in a stroller with the carseat attached to the back of it, a backpack to carry on the plane, and 2 bags to check. So I have to get all of that stuff to the check-in counter inside....interesting to see, but we made it up there...only to find out that it will cost $71 a piece to fly stand-by for an earlier flight (b/c we bought such cheap tickets they won't let you change the flight). I said "no thank you" to the stand-by idea and headed to the security check point. Remember my flight isn't until 8:30pm and it's around 5:20pm at this point. I get Graham's shoes off, the backpack and my shoes on the conveyor belt, but I didn't think about having to put the stroller and carseat on there also....so I proceed to go through the medal detectors, but I'm stopped by the rude security guard who says "kid out...and put the stroller and carseat on the belt"...I almost start to cry...I've lost my place in line by the conveyor belt and now I have to try to put the rest of the stuff on there...by this point I am sweating and about to cry...Graham is trying to run away from me and he is not listening to me at all! I'm thinking to myself "i will never do this by myself again!" Finally we get through security and head to the gate.
what do you do with a 2 year old in the airport for almost 3 hours? Well, we ate dinner, watched Dora the Explorer, and watched airplanes take off! The cookie picture is when I had to bribe him with 2 cookies to be good...I think it was around 7:30 at that point. We were bored! 
Then we decided to take pictures of ourselves!
Then, we finally get ready to pre-board...mind you I've been waiting in the airport for 3 hours doing NOTHING...and the flight attendant looks at the stroller and says "you need a stroller tag".... "A what???" I say.....a stroller tag you can get at the check-in desk around the corner...so I head over there to get the stinking stroller tag. There of course is a huge line of angry people trying to find out why their flight has been delayed...all I want is a simple stroller tag! I finally get it and go to the pre-board area....The flight attendant holds out his hand for my boarding pass...I realize that the lady hadn't given me our passes back....so back to the line I go! Again, there are tons of angry people in line ahead of me...I don't want to cut in line, so I wait....not realizing that they are waiting for me to board before they let the general boarding start! Everyone is group "A" is looking at me, waiting for me to board! Finally, the flight attendant comes over and gets my boarding tickets from the lady and we board.
We get on the plane and sit, and sit, and sit......only to find out that a lady behind us had let her luggage fall on her head from the overhead bin! In come the paramedics....ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously? Did she not realize that a HUGE piece of luggage was not really a carry on item? So we have to wait for her to be checked out and get people's stories of what had happened. 30 minutes later we are ready to leave. Graham did really well on the plane...considering that he was up at 10pm and he normally goes to bed around 7pm!
all in all we had a great time! Thanks mom and Brooke for having us!
4 years ago
7 Replies:
What a nightmare! Isn't traveling with a toddler fun?! Glad you two had fun.
Oh my gosh! You should win "mother of the year" for that experience! Ouch! Glad you survived! Can't wait to see you guys this weekend.
You have passed the acid test and are now ready to have TWO kids...which would of course mean another beautiful grandchild for me...
Glad you got through it all and are home safe now. We love you.
I don't even know where to begin. Such a long, sad story of airport chaos, but the bags falling on her head CRACKED me up - my head on the desk laughing. And at your misery of course. I have had my own nightmares of airplane trauma like having to take both girls to the bathroom with me on the plane and the same stroller incident. Only I couldn't put Megan down to fold the stroller, so the impatient people behind me reluctantly "help" me. You just didn't know what to expect, when you fly to Nashville you will be prepared!!
sounds like a miserable experience. I guess I have been lucky to always be around helpful people at the airport. And I have never had to wait for 3 hours. Maybe next time will be better.
Just reading your story made me want to cry. I think I would've if I had been you! We are looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend!
ok--sorry that you had such a miserable time trying to get to the plane, but i laughed through out the entire thing! probably only because i know that i would be sweating and wanting to cry trying to get on that stupid plane. at least you got to see your mom and sister! hey, so how is houston in july?! only asking because i grew up there...it's so HOT!
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