Birth certificates and diaper bags and pack ‘n plays, oh my!
I’ve been reading a lot about the invisible labor of motherhood and never have I felt it as much as this week, as we prepare for a family trip to Palm Springs.
Not only will it be 12-week-old Linnea’s first time on a plane, but it will also be two-year-old Miles’ first time AND my first time since before Miles was born (looking at you, pandemic).
I’m giddy with excitement over going to the desert and seeing two of my best friends and their kiddos for the first time in nearly two years. I’m excited to see Miles ‘swim’ in the pool and can’t wait to take all our little ones for walks together and I’m salivating at the thought of sipping on a margarita with the gals.
But right now, I’m consumed with thoughts of GETTING to Palm Springs. Pack everything up, make sure we have birth certificates and vaccine cards and negative covid tests for the kids JUST IN CASE. One baby, one toddler, four suitcases, one stroller, one car seat, two pack n plays, one very stuffed diaper bag, oh and a mom and a dad all need to somehow get on a plane, fly for two hours, then transfer everything into a rental car and get to the house. Unpack everything, hope the swimsuit and floaty I had delivered to the house has arrived in one piece, go to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend… All the while, of course, feeding a hungry baby and taming a toddler monster. I’m honestly having full body chills at the thought of Miles unbuckling his seatbelt on the plane and sprinting up and down the aisles, trying to touch random passengers’ belly buttons (belly buttons are a Big Thing right now) and throwing a fit when I make him sit down.
It sounds like I’m complaining. I don’t mean to. I guess what I mean to do is be realistic about the challenges of traveling with a baby and a toddler, and prepare myself for what it’s going to be like. I’m sure it’ll all be worth it once we get to where we’re going, and it’s important to me to go on trips and do activities as a family even if it’s hard to do it.
The thing is, a lot of the challenge of traveling with kiddos is invisible labor. The actual traveling part will last about five hours: prepare to go to the airport, get there a little early, the flight itself and a short drive to the Palm Springs house.
The thinking-about-traveling part lasts a lot longer. As I write this, it’s Monday and we’re leaving on Thursday. I’ve been mentally prepping everything we need to do to get ready for weeks, including renting a car that’s big enough, making sure it will have one car seat, confirming with the airline that we can bring one car seat and a stroller on the plane, confirming that we are set to bring one lap infant on the plane, ordering birth certificates for the kids just in case the airline needs to see them, getting the kids covid tests because the big one has a cough and I don’t want to get turned away at the airport, ordering bathing suits that will fit the kids, wondering if I should pack little favors with apology notes to hand out to our plane neighbors (not happening) etc etc etc. Most if it is just THINKING of stuff and then making sure I follow through with it, and, of course, feeling actual fear about my son’s behavior. It’s like being a project manager, except I’m not being paid.
I guess this is why people say there’s a difference between a trip and a vacation.