What I hadn´t remembered was other passengers traveling with babies... or is that just another one of those things you never notice until someone points it out or until you can relate. Well, I remembered my "I am THAT Mommy Now" and would totally add... That mommy holding a kicking and screaming tired baby while waiting in line to be fondled by airport security that makes you wish there was special treatment for mothers.
Seriously people, am I the only person who feels it´s right to be more considerate of poor tired mommies and daddies who have to endure everything other passengers endure but on top of that have to deal with babies who love routines and are more obvious at expressing the fact that they are tired and grumpy and hungry? Well apparently I am because when leaving Colombia, I had to go through airport security and was faced with this exact scenario. In front of me in line was a mommy traveling with an adorable 1-2 year old boy dressed in brown overalls and cute little brown lace up boots.
The baby was patient at the beginning, but after 15 minutes or so of waiting he began to express his annoyance with a tantrum of massive proportions and the other people waiting in line just stared and complained and Tsk Tsk´d at that poor exhausted woman who tried everything, and I do mean Everything, she could to calm her little baby boy down. While they silently judged and gave her disapproving and annoyed stares, not one of them thought to let her cut to the front of the line. So instead of this happy ending option for the baby, the mom, and all of us other passengers listening to the screams while waiting in line, everyone (including the airport and security personnel) chose instead passive aggressive disregard for the poor mother and child. What´s up with that?!? So yeah, I believe parents do deserve special treatment.
Anyway, enough protesting for parents´ rights. Onto a more pleasant observation... I hadn´t noticed the many variations of parents traveling with children. There were the two adorable girls of different ages dressed in the same pyjamas (she shudders as she remembers the tortures of being dressed alike), one walking holding daddy´s hand and the other being carried by mommy. The +BabyBjörn stylish parents, the more laid back Moby Wrap parents, the backpacker backpacking her baby in something like This, the mother with the child safety harness. So many different products, so many different parenting styles, I Love That! If I ever have to travel with Hannah, it´ll be interesting to see what products I´ll enlist to help me and how we´ll manage the stress of flying.
All I can say is Kudos to that mom in Colombia and, now that I think about it, to my mommy as well because when we moved to the US, I was only 5, my sister 3, and my brother 1. So imagine traveling with three kids and all toddlers... OMG! I remember we each had a stuffed animal (I still have mine) and my brother putting up both of his little 1 year old hands when we went through security upon arrival saying "no cag´go nada" (baby talk for "I don´t have anything on me") with a scared look on his cute little face. This was way before the TSA nightmares of today, so I can only imagine if he had had to wait for an eternity, go through all of the machines they use today, see all of the unfriendly officers scowling faces, put his little shoes and stuffed animal in those crates... Man! that would have been a tantrum to remember!
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