Up, Up and Away!

With so many families taking to the skies on a much-anticipated holiday, I am delighted to share some of my best tips and tricks for flying with young children…

I grew up flying in the days when, if you were very good and very lucky, you’d get invited into the cockpit to say hello to the pilot at the end of your flight.  My parents’ work involved quite a bit of travel and I must say, I found the whole experience extremely exciting.

Later, when my own sons were young, we travelled overseas quite a lot, too. 

Here are some of the top sanity tips and tricks that I discovered along the way:

1.    Stay calm and positive:  as with most things, they feed off your energy.

2.    Be prepared: pack little surprises to unveil along the way.  I used to purchase little things like small ‘Lego’ sets, ‘Kinder Surprise’ eggs, craft projects, books and puzzles and reveal something new every hour of the journey.

3.    People understand: don’t worry about being the perfect parent or having perfect children on long-haul flights.  The people around you generally understand and some might even offer to help.  Say yes!

4.    Things will inevitably go wrong: despite all the above, Newton’s law still applies at 35,000 feet in the air.  One of my sons had a special gift for vomiting on himself in the first 30 minutes of the journey.  Refer to point number one.

When all else fails, remember that it won’t last forever and there is an exciting new adventure waiting on the other side.