My father-in-law turned 70 this week. The whole family surprised him with a visit last weekend. A 70th birthday is a cause for celebration for anyone, but he has had quite a year with different health issues, so we wanted to make it special. However, the drive to my in-laws is at least 8 hours (usually more because well, kids). We decided we would fly and then rent a car. This was a quick trip. We left Friday night and came home Sunday morning. One of the most exciting parts about this trip was that it was our kids’ first time flying on an airplane. It was the perfect flight to start them with—just over an hour from take-off to landing. With summer just around the corner and the possibility of trips in your future, I thought I would give you some tips and tricks that helped the kids get ready for the flight.

What to do leading up to the flight:

·       Talk about the airport. From the parking area to getting inside the airport—the more they feel like they know and can be prepared for will help them feel more comfortable.

·       I discussed step by step from parking in the parking lot to walking through security, then the tunnel to get on the plane, what the plane sounds like taking off, etc.

·       We watched YouTube videos showing what airports look like, what the interior of planes are like, seatbelts, and so on. There was even a video from the perspective of a kid taking their first flight and what flying is like. You can show them videos of planes taking off and landing too.

·       I didn’t do this before this flight because it was a last-minute trip, but there are great books at the library highlighting travel and planes.

·       I suggest once you arrive at the airport, you start talking about where you are going and what is about to happen and you can reference the videos and/or books.

·       Get to the airport early and walk around with the kids. Show them the different areas. Point things out. Look out the windows at the planes. We even had time for them to play in the play area. The kids loved it—the new Kansas City airport has a great play area shaped like a plane. The kids pretended to be the pilots and we sat and acted like the passengers.

Tips for the plane:

·       Pack a bag with snacks and activities for the kids!

·       We packed a big book (with a collection of multiple stories) for each kid. This helps with less to keep track of.

·       We let them bring one little stuffed animal each.

·       Our snack Tupperware had dividers—you can see it on my Instagram, but I packed snacks that were different than the norm so they would be excited to open them and it could distract them for a bit.

·       Don’t forget to pack an empty water bottle for each of them so you can fill it at a water station once through security.

·       We packed coloring activities, stickers, and mess-free coloring pages.

·       We also packed their tablets and headphones so they could watch a show.

·       My son is old enough to chew gum and doesn’t swallow it so I gave him gum at the beginning in case his ears popped.

On our way home there were thunderstorms across the country, and we were delayed. Luckily our delay was only about 30 minutes. The delay was the perfect opportunity to visit the airport’s used bookstore. It was a huge store that looked like an old, unorganized library. The quirky man at the checkout desk showed us where the kids' section was. My kids were in awe. It looked like a scene from a Shel Silverstein poem with books piled to the ceiling. My husband made my son’s dreams come true when he found not one, but two Star Wars books. Ella was excited about adding to our Magic Tree House collection. I could have spent hours searching through the titles. There were so many shelves and we only looked through two of them. We spent about 20 minutes in there and seeing the kids overwhelmingly excited about books was rewarding. When we give our kids the opportunity whether at the library or a bookstore to look for books they are interested in, we create a safe space for learning and a future love of reading. We walked away with 6 new books and spent just shy of $19.00—in an airport, I’d say that was a score. Especially compared to my $7.00 bottle of water (insert the eye roll emoji). In all the prepping and packing for the kids, including their empty bottles; I forgot to pack mine. Lesson learned.

My hope for you and the kids in your life is to learn that when life gives you a rain delay, you take a few minutes to stop and flip through the old books. Celebrate the birthdays when you can. Make time for the special people in your life. And don’t forget to be present in those magical, unplanned moments and take it all in. Look around, you have so many things to be grateful for.

I hope these “flying with kids” tips help you. If I missed anything, let me know.

Have a great weekend and as always, happy reading.