Preparing to travel....with kids.

At the end of this week April and I are going to be ripping our two young daughters out of their cozy beds at about 3:30 AM and shuffling them off to Buffalo. Actually to Newark, NJ where we will wait in a line that shouldn't be moving so slowly to get a ticket to wait in another line before the nice young men with the wands make you strip down to your gutchies and laugh at you because they can stay fully clothed. Then we do some more waiting until it's our turn to board a plane where - you guessed it - we wait some more! This is the best waiting time because you never know how long it's REALLY going to be. You could wait there for minutes, or maybe hours...who knows. This is a great time to get to know your seat neighbor before he clubs you with his complimentary pillow (which the stewardess was so kind to give him to sleep while we waited).

Kids aren't great at waiting. Anyone who knows kids knows this. My kids are probably some of the more blessed with patience, but they too have their breaking points. You know it's hit Allison when every little thing makes her cry. She'll bump her elbow on a pillow, "Ahhh... AHhhhh.... WAHHHHHHHHH!"

"What's wrong?" April or I will ask.
"I (sob) bonked (sob) my elbow! (SOBBBB)", she'll reply.
"Oh! let me see!" we'll comfort, "All better!"

At this point we get a look from her that says, "I'm not really hurt, but I'm still grumpy and I'm gonna let you know it". Then her cry will change to a sound I can only relate to the engine a 1988 Volvo station wagon trying to start on a -25 degree Vermont morning, "ahug . . .augh. . .augh. . . "etc.

"Allie, stop crying. you're fine." this, along with some sort of distraction will usually do the trick.

So all this is to say . . . please pray for me and my family as we fly from NJ to Chicago and Back again in five days. Pray for Patience all around, and for protection to boot. thanks.