Some thoughts on flying with young children

Sometimes I'm shocked at how much my life has changed since having children. I used to fly to British Columbia and Alberta all the time and I loved the traveling. I loved reading magazines and new books, wrapping myself in a big scarf and watching a movie. The thing that puzzles me about these memories is that I used to treasure these four or five hours by myself because...why? I wasn't married, I didn't have children. As a student I was I by myself all day long. Of course many people without children have busy lives and stressful demands on their time, but me? I just had papers to write, and the occasional class to teach. I had plenty of alone time.  Now? If I get a chance to pee by myself I'm having a good day.

Now I have two sidekicks. They are by my side from the moment we wake up until, well, just sort of all the time. I'm still a parent at night, like when Alyce calls for me multiple times a night when she just can't settle into a restful sleep, as she's done the past couple of nights. Shira would prefer to just crawl inside my clothes, but she'll accept me carrying her on the outside most of the time. If I'm eating they want to share, if I'm talking to Matt they want to know what and how and why I'm saying the things I do.

Our trip to Vancouver last month took flying out west to a whole new level. It was just the three of us and we took the plane by storm. I made a few advance preparations (like filling my bags with dollar store treats of new crayons, stickers, teeny tiny safari animals, and smarties) and then we were on our way. Alyce was big enough for her own seat, but in order for Shira to fly free she had to share my lap. Oh, we managed just fine (see above, re: always trying to climb inside my clothes). When we arrived on the plane we received both sighs and smiles. Before flying I had decided not to care about what other people thought of my traveling family, not wanting to spend my flight worrying about other people. We settled in and I quickly pulled out my secret weapon.

No matter what opinion people have of breastfeeding a toddler, no matter how uncomfortable the idea makes them, any airline passenger becomes an instant supporter of a breastfed baby. I could feel the plane give a collective sigh of relief when I unsnapped my nursing bra. Oh, how lovely. This little one won't be crying during take-off. Isn't breastfeeding lovely? I think they would have even supported me nursing Alyce, who hasn't nursed in two years. I think I could have passed around breastfeeding pins to every passenger on that plane.

We had a few moments of frustration on the plane, but mostly it was a great trip. Alyce and Shira coloured, snacked, and covered each other in stickers. I even read five pages of a book. I can't remember the last time I did that with children on my lap. If you have a trip planned in the your future and you'll be traveling with young kids, know this: some things might get in the way (like sickness or tantrums), but for the most part its not so bad. Take it for what it is (not the plane ride of your youth) and ask them to pass the smarties.

Food on Thursdays: Pies!

 Oh, Vancouver. We miss you already.

I've been thinking about this beach all day. We're in a cold spell again here and the chill has seeped into my bones. I'm trying to remember exactly how it felt to have the sun on my face last weekend, watching four little ones enjoy all that sand. I can tell you, in case it's been awhile for you, that warm sun on your cheeks feels pretty fantastic. 

Spring has certainly hit this part of Canada, despite today's colder temperatures, so I know there is much sun to come around here. But today was cold and we hid away inside. I thought of braving the day and walking with the girls to the library, but I've been sick since we got back and I wanted an extra day of hibernating. 

So instead we made pies.

I picked up leeks a few weeks ago and they've been haunting the fridge, starring me down every time I open the crisper. I chose them with a quiche in mind, but sometimes I put off making pie crust just because it seems hard. But really, it isn't. When I decided today that this quiche was finally going to happen, I reminded myself that I always dread the making of crust, but that each and every time I end up going on and on about how easy it was. (Like right now.) I stand behind Martha's pate brisee recipe and I suggest that you do, too. It calls for a lot of butter, but don't worry. It's delicious.

Since Shira was having a nap, I invited Alyce to help with the crust. The recipe makes enough for two pies, and since a quiche only requires one of those crusts, I was eager to make something else with my little one, who, obviously, was also eager to make something other than quiche (as she stated loudly). So in addition to the quiche, we decided to make two mini-pies, a raspberry tart for Alyce and an apple tart for me and everyone else. We didn't follow a recipe so much as we threw some fruit into the shells (and the raspberries came straight from the freezer) and topped them with butter and brown sugar (and some cinnamon for the apples). There was no measuring of any kind, unless you count the number of times I counted Alyce dipping her finger directly into the bag of brown sugar (you really don't want to know how many times).  We baked them for 45ish minutes at 350, though I should have had the oven at 375. The choice is yours. Either way you'll get a pie out of it.

Shira eventually woke up and joined us in the kitchen. Here Alyce is slipping her handfuls of edamame beans leftover from lunch. Alyce loves to feed Shira as much healthy, growing food as possible so that she can keep all the sugary pies for herself.

Eventually I made quiche, with no help at all from my helper. I use Tamra Davis' quiche recipe as my base because it only calls for three eggs and a cup of milk. Martha's quiche calls for a dozen eggs and I just couldn't commit to that. As for what went in the quiche, I sauteed the leeks (finally!) with some mushrooms, and of course, added a large handful of white cheddar. Next time I hope I won't let a silly crust stand in the way of a good quiche.

P.S. Did you Thursday treat you well? Did you eat anything delicious today? Would you like to share?

Vancouver, Part one

 

Since I took approximately 1,000 photos in Vancouver (and I'm not even exaggerating), I'll share only a few each day this week so as not to overwhelm you. I'm always thinking of you. Today is brought to you by Instagram, one of my favourite obsessions (you can follow me @mostdaysiwin). Here is a glimpse at our week, like this first photo of my sister, Sydney, collapsing in disappointment at a Snakes and Ladders roll that didn't go her way.  

 

Shira and Alyce experienced many firsts over the week. Shira enjoyed her first big kid swing, an accomplishment she's still going on about. She also fell in love with my dad's chocolate lab, so now that makes two of us. Abby, or Abigail von Labrador as she is sometimes known, put up with a lot of unwanted attention from our dear Shira. For an old dog she showed incredible patience. Or, maybe she was just too tired to protest. Either way.

Alyce learned how much fun it is to have a best friend her size, who was (usually) willing to share all of her clothes. I loved sharing clothes with my friends so I understood why she was over the moon with excitement about the whole thing. In ninety-percent of my photos she is wearing Sydney's dresses. Poor Syd, she had no idea that Alyce descending on her house for a week meant that her closet was up for grabs. But it made Alyce feel like a princess, so I hope that helped to cushion the blow a bit.

Shira coped with all the change by nursing all the time. When I mean all the time, I mean dawn, morning, noon, dusk, evening, and overnight. I will be sharing some of these details with you later (you're welcome) and will be looking for some suggestions as to how I can gently suggest to my littlest one that she need not nurse every twenty minutes. Because I think I'm the only mother of an almost two-year old who needed to buy more nipple cream last week.

And there was painting. Lots of painting! I don't have much to say about that, except to say that there was also a lot of colouring. Markers, crayons, you name it. Alyce even painted a picture with her mouth, because why not.

While the weather was cold most of the week, Spring had definitely arrived in Vancouver. We enjoyed the new flowers, grass, and colonies of mushrooms in my dad's backyard with our mittens on. We even braved the cold to visit Granville Island, one of my absolute favourite places in the world. It's an enormous market filled with good food, musicians, magicians, pottery stores (my weakness), and flowers everywhere. It also reminds me of my first visits to Vancouver when my dad moved there eighteen years ago. In those early years he and Kate lived in English Bay right across from the Island. I would take a teeny tiny ferry across the way and spend the entire day at the market. I hadn't really experienced anything like that in Ontario and I'm sure my days spent at Granville Island influenced my later obsession with markets. It was also just glorious to spend the days by myself, wandering around for hours and only stopping because I needed to eat more. This trip I was surrounded by Alyce, Shira, and Noah (Sydney was at daycare that day), and though it was a much different experience, it was just as good. They chased birds for hours and Alyce graced the island with an impromptu dance while a busker sang "All you need is love." A crowd gathered around her and she danced her heart out. And then I grinned because I knew that I was the one who got to take her home with me.

Some days we needed to do a lot of driving to get to the places we were going, but it was always worth it. The ocean is always worth it. When my dad asked Alyce if she was enjoying her afternoon at the beach, she replied, "there is no better place to be!" I'll second that. The afternoon was glorious, with warm sun to fight against the cold temperatures. I was having a bit of a rough time at the end of our trip, but the wind coming off the ocean made me feel human again.

Back tomorrow with more!

P.S. Who else is with me? Vancouver might just be the greatest.

And a good Friday morning to you

Around our house, sometimes we just like to eat our oatmeal in bed. My mum's bed, to be exact. While watching cartoons. I can tell you that the experience of having a bed picnic with two small children is worth the extra bit of clean-up.

So, what are you doing today? Are you counting the hours until a weekend of spring weather? Will you find a farmer's market to wander through? If I weren't flying to Vancouver this weekend, that's exactly what I'd be doing. But I am flying to Vancouver in one more sleep, as Alyce declared upon waking this morning, so I have a busy day of preparations. It's a long, long list:

• Finish lesson notes for my online course. I believe the deadline was last week. Oops. 
• Stop by the dollar store for delightful pieces of plastic that might entertain two kids on a plane for five hours. Also, stickers.
• Pick up a new dolly for a certain four-year-old sister of mine. 
• Pack our bags!
• Make snacks and lunches for our trip.
• Stress about airport security with two small children, one of whom has a habit of running away.
• Eat some homemade pizza with Matt and enjoy at least a little bit of March Madness with him.
• Sleep twenty hours.
• Come to terms with that last one not happening, but still get to bed before nine. 

I hope your own Friday moves along quickly and gets you to the weekend!

What are your plans? 

P.S. A very useful post from Oh Happy Day! on flying with young kids.

May I introduce you to some people I know?

Vancouver 2008 

(In both photos of the girls, Sydney is on the left and Alyce on the right.)

Ok, you might want to take notes:

I have a brother. His name is Noah and he is eight.

I have a sister. Her name is Sydney and she is four.

I am twenty-six years older than Noah. Alyce is two months younger than Sydney, her aunt.

Shira has no idea who these people are.

Who is this secret family, you ask? They're no secret! They just live too far away from me, that's all. After my parents divorced my father moved to British Columbia, in the end choosing Vancouver (an excellent choice). Fortunately for everyone involved, but mostly me, he met Kate, one of my favourite people in the world. They got married, blah, blah, blah, but most importantly they had some kids. And now they are some of my favourite people in the world (sorry, Kate). I wanted siblings my entire life, and even if I had to wait almost thirty years for them, it was worth it.

I don't see them enough, that's for sure. I used to travel west a few times a year, especially once Noah was born. He was the love of my life, but then I had kids of my own (Noah, you are still my love). Now I'm lucky if I can visit once a year or two. My last visit was October 2009, when Alyce was almost two and I was pregnant with Shira. Before that it was March 2008 (photos above), when Alyce and Sydney were three and five months old, respectively. Could an aunt and her niece be any cuter? Of course not.

But guess who was surprised this week with some tickets to Vancouver?

Me! And The Children!

Sorry, Matt. You need to stay home and work. Umm, we'll call you.

In less that two weeks we will board a plane to Vancouver. Now it is time to become preoccupied with the following details:

• How do I fly on my own with two kids? Will one of the flight attendants take Shira for me?
• Last time Alyce adjusted to the time change by waking up at 2:00 am in Vancouver. I would rather not relive that history.
• We'll have most days on our own, so what should we do? I have a few requirements: ocean, mountains, and markets. Anyone in Vancouver have a suggestion for us?
• My dad works in the shoe business. What kind of shoes will I come home with?
• Will Sydney, who is a four year old girl, and Alyce, who is also a four year old girl, have enough princess dresses and tiaras to share?

All important details, I know. But I can't wait! More details to come.

What would you do in Vancouver if you found yourself there in March? Any ideas?

There was a rainbow

It's after nine and there is quite a storm raging outside. There has been a tornado watch all day, and while I do not want one of those, I am grateful for a good storm. When the storm first hit about thirty minutes ago I was looking into our backyard, leaning against the sliding glass door, and our kiddie pool and diaper-drying rack came flying against the house. I quickly realized I was being an idiot and moved away from the windows.* Alyce got out of bed when the storm began, and we quickly realized that she was not going to bed any time soon. We invited her downstairs with us and she parked herself down on the couch, watching baseball and drinking warm milk with her Papa. It was up there with the sweetest thing of all time.

It's been a whirlwind of a week. We are occupying this strange space lately, where we are unemployed, school hasn't started yet for Alyce, and we find ourselves with very little to do (not including the hours I spend looking for work). We can only spend so much time playing in the backyard, so between needing a change of scenery and wanting to make the most of this (we hope) last couple of weeks of pure freedom, we have found ourselves a few adventures. In the last ten days alone I have been to the Toronto Zoo, Toronto Centre Island, the Canadian National Exhibition, and yesterday, Niagra Falls. Talk about seizing the day.

 

I hadn't intended a trip to Niagra yesterday, but some friends from Delaware were going to be there (the same friends who looked after Alyce while Shira was born, if you've read Shira's birth story on Kveller), and I figured it was a good excuse to show Alyce the Falls. The day didn't work out quite as planned, and we never ended up finding our friends, but we had fun nonetheless. It was just me and Alyce and we've really found our groove together lately. There are always some unfortunate moments in the car with far too much whining and crying for my taste, but she's three. Comes with the package. For the most part we had the greatest day together, and I'm loving all this extra Alyce and Shira time before I head back to work. (Did you hear that universe? I am going back to work.)

Our day consisted of Falls-watching, ice cream-eating, and not much else. Oh, there were rainbows, too. Not bad for a Tuesday.

*This reminds me of a similar poor choice I made in the past, while driving in Jasper National Park in Alberta. My friend Cathy and I were on our first road trip in the mountains, and upon entering the park received a guide warning visitors not to jump out of their car if they saw a bear on the side of the road. What moron jumps out of their car to check out a bear, we wondered. Not ten minutes later there was an enormous elk on the side of the road. Cathy stopped the car, and I jumped out, camera in hand, and ran up to the elk. Yes, I am that moron.

Day 518

Ok, so it hasn't quite been that many days since Matt left for Poland, but it feels like it. It will be four weeks this Friday, and then he'll return the following Friday night. I would like him to return sometime tomorrow morning, say around 5:00 am, when Shira usually starts her day. Matt could wake up with her and I could stay in bed. He'd make me french toast and coffee around 8:30 (having already fed and dressed Alyce), then after nursing Shira before her nap I'd go back to sleep. Oh yes, I'd like that.

But no, not yet. We'll tough it out another day tomorrow, and the day after that. We're figuring out own rhythm for the time being. It seems that as long as I feed her all day long, Shira is happy to support me in all of my daily tasks (especially the tasks that involve more eating). Alyce needs some extra patience from me (couldn't she just ask for my kidney?), but otherwise she is content to play outside most of the day. They are both tired of shopping, which we've been doing a lot of lately, and neither seem sufficiently impressed by the new couch we bought this week.

P.S. The mail strike FINALLY ended and mail delivery resumed today. I was so ready to finally receive Matt's postcards, and maybe those anniversary earrings he's been talking about, but all we got were two bills (fortunately not addressed to me). Really, Canada Post? That's all you've got for me? I'm so disappointed in you.

Day Eleven

I have no idea how couples kept in touch over long distances in the past (maybe a letter or two?), but Matt and I are keeping the magic alive with thanks to Twitter. Take, for example, the following love note from Matt earlier today:

I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, a romantic letter, maybe even handwritten, might be nice and just a little bit sophisticated. He could send me a letter every day and I could keep them tied up with string, that is, when I wasn't re-reading them throughout the day. I would save them in a box and one day Alyce and Shira would discover them and treasure them always. They might even them pass them along to our grandchildren.

That sounds nice, but no. I'll keep my hour spent in the car this morning in the Starbucks parking lot, waiting for Shira to wake up from her unscheduled morning nap, laughing with my husband through Twitter, because that was the only way I was going to get this gem:

Or this one:

I have always relied on Matt to make my day better. While I reserve the right to direct some heavy eye-rolling his way some days, mostly I'm just relieved that he makes me laugh so much (let's just keep that between you and me). Even in Poland, Matt joined me while I sat stranded in The Kia while Shira slept. So yes, a collection of romantic letters is lovely, but they're not everything.

P.S. Speaking of letters between spouses, run, don't walk, over to Dinner: A Love Story, for the best report card I've seen. When a new post shows up in my reader, it's the first blog I turn to. I love when I find a marriage that our marriage can look up to. See also: school lunch contract.

P.P.S. Matt, come home soon.

Just us

Matt left yesterday and it's just me and these two craziesdarlings for five weeks. As I've mentioned before, Matt will be gallivanting around Germany and Poland for the month of June and some of July, teaching both University of Delaware students and some local Warsaw students a course on Poland during the second World War. I'm more than a little envious and I would more than a little like to join him, but this time we can't swing it. There are babies to breastfeed (one in particular), immigration applications to file, and jobs and houses to find. You know, the little things.

There are moments, and this is one of these moments, when I start to wallow in my own pity-party about not going to Europe with my husband, but it will be alright. I'll stay home with the girls and we'll all miss Matt together. And together we can make Canada ready for his formal grand entrance.

In the meantime, I'll be posting about my temporary single-parent adventures and you can all help me think of the delightful things Matt should bring us home.

We miss you, Matty. Come home soon.

P.S. I realize that I'm obsessed with photos of sleeping Shira, but can you blame me?

It was a good day

(Bottom image courtesy of Dani--three very tired children.)

I'm still exhausted from our very, very long day. There were fevers, lost phones (and found phones), car rentals, late lunches, and multiple clothing changes. But it was so much fun, because there were dinosaur bones, ice cream, Central Park, pigeons, in-flight DVD players, and one of the best coffees I've ever had. I had great company (as I did for the last trip) and a ton of fun. It was completely worth the getting home at eleven. 

Shira came down with a rotten cold that day, but was agreeable nonetheless, because that is what she does. I now have that same rotten cold, but I am less agreeable. I'm taking this non-agreeable self to bed. 

Who else is with me--New York best city ever?