Surviving Christmas Travel with Kids

Christmas Travel: Airport Security Survival

I did it, I wrote a bad word in public:  "airport security."  Cover the children's eyes.  Nobody likes going through airport security -- I'm sure of this because of all the thousands of people I've stood in airport security lines with, not one of them looked happy to be there.  But, as a frequent traveler, considering the alternative to 'no airport security', I cheer up a great deal.

And, if you've got some good strategies in place, getting through can be a breeze.  So, if you're traveling by air with small children this Christmas, read on!

1.  Know what the current regulations are.  I don't even know.  I have to look them up each time we travel.  The Travel Safety Administration website is chock full of good information; they even have a special section about traveling with kids.  Oh, and then follow the regs -- and make sure you keep that ziploc bag in an easily accessible place.

2.  Dress for success.  Dress neatly and presentably, but make sure everyone is wearing comfortable clothing with no metal chains, studs, or other things designed to make the airport security sensors go wild.  One of my favorite travel outfits is covered with cute little metal studs.  Sigh.  I leave it at home.

3.  Remember, you'll often have to take off your shoes and belt when you travel.  Leave your belt at home -- or pack it in the duffel with your shoes.  Everyone in the family should wear shoes that slip on and off easily -- no laces, especially for kids!

4.  Make a family plan.  This is probably the most important thing you can do; everyone needs to know what's going on, what their job is, and how to behave.  With small children, the best time to do this is while you're waiting in line.  If the line is long enough, you'll have plenty of time.  If it's so short you don't have time, then likely everyone will be relaxed enough that it won't matter.  Here's a sample plan that I repeat nearly verbatim every time we go through a security line -- make sure you tell your kids what's going on too!

"When we get up to the belt, you kids must be very well behaved.  The people up there are a little bit like policemen; it's their job to keep us safe, but they don't like people fooling around because it distracts them.  We have to put all of our things up on the big belt, and you kids have to take your shoes off and put them up there as well.  Then we have to go through the little doorway, one at a time when the security people tell us to.  Jonathan and Timothy (my two oldest), you go through first and then sit down on the chair on the other side.  No running or playing, just sit there and wait for us.  Dad and I will finish loading our things on the belt, and then dad will go through and hand you your shoes.  Put them on quickly, and then just keep sitting there waiting for us."

Then my husband goes through while I break down the stroller and put it on the belt while keeping a leg hooked around the three-year-old.  While my husband is gathering up bags at the far end and passing out shoes, the little one and I go through security, I set up the stroller, we load it up, and can be out of the way in three minutes flat -- not bad for a family of five with 3 insane children.

Of course, if you're traveling with an infant, this adds another layer of complexity to the arrangement.  Don't be afraid to ask for help -- I've often asked the TSA folks to hold the baby or to load a car seat for me, and they've always been willing to help.

5.  Count your bags.  Know how many bags, strollers, and children you have going into security.  Make sure you have that many of each on the other side!

Surviving Christmas Travel: How to Pack

I used to love suitcases, with their implicit promise of exploring the unknown while bringing along a bit of home.  I have changed my mind about what suitcases represent:  now I see them merely as burdens to be lugged through customs, so I do my best to pack as lightly as possible.

Here are a few odds and ends suggestions of things you might not have thought of to help you in your battle of the bulging (but hopefully not overweight!) suitcase.

1.  If you are traveling by air, you'll face weight restrictions with your suitcases.  Make sure you know what the weight limits are and keep your bathroom scale handy for weighing your finished suitcases.

2.  Do all your laundry.  It's best if you can start about a week out and do a load a day -- wash, dry, fold, AND put away! -- if you're behind.  Check out Flylady if you need some help in this area.  If your laundry is done, then you know exactly what outfits you have available to pack; you won't have to keep clothes out to wash or wear (because something else is in the wash); and this way your laundry is all done when you get back home!

3.  A day or two before you travel, completely pack your children's suitcases; I even recommend buying extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, and combs so that you can put everything in the suitcase, close it, and not have to worry about it again until you load it in the car.

4.  But what to pack?  Ay, there's the rub.  It's always a balancing act between how many clothes your kids need vs. how much laundry you'll be doing, but just remember that you probably won't need as many clothes for your kids as you think you will.  (I never do.  I always get to the end of a trip and find clean, folded, never-worn outfits in the bottom of their suitcases!)

5.  How to pack?  Here's my favorite method:  lay out a complete outfit -- socks, underwear, top, bottoms -- and roll it all together into a neat little "sausage."  These little rolls pack beautifully, you always know you've got matching outfits, and this way it's easy to fish out clothing in the grey pre-dawn hours in your in-laws' house without waking either adults or the baby when your six-year-old decides he has to get up and go out in the snow NOW!

6.  Obviously:  pack for 2 (or more if you're really good, or they're really small!) kids in a suitcase.  For our trips -- which sometimes last an entire summer -- Mom and Dad always get their own suitcases.  If you're just going for a week-end, you might be able to pack for the whole family in just one or two suitcases.

7.  If you find your suitcases are overweight, take along a duffel bag for heavy items like shoes.  The duffel bag also makes a great place to store those extra things that always seem to come back with us on a trip.

8.  If possible, pack for yourself a day or two in advance as well.  For me, this is always tricky because there are those little things I need now but also need to pack.  My compromise is usually to pack everything I need later into my suitcase, zip it up, and put it by the door; and pack all the stuff I need now into my carry-on.  I then keep my carry-on in the bathroom so I can put those "need now" things in them as I use them the morning of the trip.

9.  And a word about carry-ons:  my rule is, everyone gets one, whether we're going in the car or on a plane.  I pack at least an extra shirt and underwear for everyone, toothbrush if the trip is really long, food, and any games, books, and toys I think will keep them quiet and happy and which will not require me to crawl under the seat in front of me to retrieve bits and pieces of.

10.  Food?  Yes, I pack food.  Having two kids with dietary restrictions, I have to.  When we're traveling by air, rather than packing a random amount of snacks or sandwiches, I calculate out how many meals we'll need and pack that many meals:  a sandwich, pretzels, a piece of fruit, etc.  I learned the hard way, after my middle son threw up on me in the plane after eating too many potato chips!, not to pack to much of any kind of junk food!

11.  Traveling by air?  Your best friend is a nylon strap with a loop sewn in one end to put in your carry-on.  I've got a small collection of these -- one from a jogging stroller I had once, and a couple from some old children's harnesses.  Of course, if you've got a kid's harness, you'll have one of these already.  If not, start looking around your house for one and I'll tell you next time why you'll love it!

Christmas Travel: Getting Through the Airport

You've checked in your suitcases and made it through security, coming through with all your children and carry-ons intact.  If you're late for your plane, all the better!  Rush for your plane without having to worry about how to corral wiggly children in a very large, very public building.

But what if you're early?  Or worse, what if you have a long layover or two en route?  Ugh.  There are things you can do to make this most difficult (for me) part of travel a lot less stressful.  Traveling alone with children as much as I have, I've developed some "interesting" methods for getting through the airport, often at high speed with enormous amounts of carry-on luggage.

1.  Travel with a stroller.  Almost anything but an umbrella stroller works beautifully.  My youngest will be four and a bit the next time we fly; he WILL be in a stroller.  A stroller is much more than a place to securely store a child. 

*The basket underneath can hold a minimum of two backpacks; I usually manage three.

*Loop the shoulder strap of your laptop over the stroller handle, and, if you've got a nylon strap (see #2 below), you can also tie a fourth backpack to the stroller handle.

*Traveling with a car seat?  Turn it upside down over the handle of the stroller.  This one requires some finessing, and it won't work with all car seats or strollers, but it's definitely worth a serious try!  (One caution:  this tends to make the stroller top heavy and it could tip over -- with kid inside -- if you let go of the handle.  I know; it's happened to all three of my kids!)

*In a pinch, on a sturdy stroller, you can put the youngest in the stroller and the next youngest on top of the canopy -- this shortens the life of the stroller, but does that matter when you've got three terminals to cover in the five minutes before your flight departs and you really need to run at adult speed?

*Or, put the second youngest in the stroller, lean it way back, and put the littlest in the older child's lap.  Obviously, this won't work with infants or large children, but I've made it work with a six- and a three-year-old!

My typical stroller load -- for a normal, one-child, Graco stroller -- looks like this:  two kids, four backpacks, a laptop, a purse, and a car seat.  The only thing not in the stroller is my eight-year-old.  We can make serious speed with this configuration!

2.  Have you found that nylon strap with a loop sewn in one end?  I mentioned it in the "How to Pack" section.  Here are just some of the things you can do with it.  Place the strap over the handle or frame and pull the loose end through the loop, and it's securely tied to the stroller.  With the free end:

a.  Use it to tie a backpack, other bag, or car seat to the handle of your stroller or on a luggage cart.

b.  Use it to tie a child to the stroller or to you!

c.  Or, have any walking children hold a strap, or part of a strap that's connected to the stroller, and make a train.  This encourages 'sticking together' and 'moving quickly,' two important concepts to master in an airport.

d.  Run the free end of the strap through all the handles of your carry-ons while you're waiting at the gate (make sure the strap is also attached to your stroller), and tie it securely.  This makes it impossible for anyone to make off with any of your bags, giving you a bit of extra freedom and lowering your stress level.

e.  Often, when I'm traveling alone, I have too many things to push (luggage cart and stroller) and not enough adult hands.  I use my trusty nylon strap to tie the bar at the front of the stroller to the back of the luggage cart.  Believe it or not, the stroller will follow obediently in line.  Or, slightly older children can be encouraged to help "push" or guide the stroller (while connected); that way you know where that child is too.

f.  Or the strap can just be tied to the front of the stroller and it can be pulled that way -- either by an energetic older child who needs exercise, or by mom if the older child wants to push.

3.  If you have any freedom in choosing which airports your layovers are in, do some research ahead of time to find one with either a children's play area (as in the wonderful, marvelous, I-love-it Minneapolis airport) or a "family room".  Not many people know about family rooms; all the better, that means they're often deserted.  They usually have at least a crib, often a bathroom and sometimes a rocking chair or a few toys.  They're small, safe, secure areas where your kids can decompress or lie down for a while during a layover.  I love them, but not all airports have them.  Newark airport, for example, does not.  Houston International airport has a couple.  Check on-line for a map of the airport when you're making reservations; there's usually a "family" looking icon to denote a family room (mom, dad, kid holding hands).  Just don't confuse these with the family bathrooms!!

4.  If you have to layover in a place where there's no family room, and you really need a quiet place to decompress a while, my slightly heretical suggestion is to go to the airport chapel (Newark airport does have a nice chapel!).  MAKE SURE IT'S DESERTED BEFORE MOVING YOUR FAMILY IN TO QUIETLY DECOMPRESS!!!  Please do NOT disturb anyone at worship!  Chapels, naturally, require a slightly different etiquette than do family rooms, but with a bit of common sense, kindness, and respect on your part, a chapel can provide a real haven for your family, and, if your trip has been particularly hectic, it's as good a place as any to pray those prayers that the storm lets up and the de-icer continues to work!

5.  Last but not least:  if you have to eat in the airport, do that first.  It always takes longer than you think it will!  For our extremely picky eaters, we've also found that airport fast food is usually much more palatable than airplane food, so we make a point of feeding our kids at the airport if we haven't been able to pack them a lunch.

6.  Above all, stay calm.  Even if your four-year-old has just thrown up on you, the oldest is lying on the floor asleep, the baby is caterwauling and you have to cover roughly the distance of the New York Marathon in 15 minutes.  I've learned the hard way that if I break down or lose my temper, so does everyone else.  I'm an adult; I'll pull myself together eventually and realize we need to move on.  Jet-lagged four-year-olds do not have this ability and will not pull themselves together until well after the plane has left the terminal!