Traveling By Air? Here Are A Few Dos & Don'ts

We just returned from a 10-day vacation to the West Coast. Unlike previous trips where the bulk of my prep efforts involved packing the kids, this time, I left much of their packing up to them. THEY were accountable for what they did and, more importantly, did NOT bring. Thus, no goggles in the pool? Their problem, not mine! A favorite top not packed? Not my concern. That one, simple edict freed up my time to think about other things, namely items that could make our lives easier and more pleasant while we were away. The challenge, of course, was finding stuff that would fit into our carry-on luggage since we do not check bags (too cumbersome and expensive).

Here is my list of Dos and Don'ts for future air travel:

Do bring...

...collapsible water bottles. These bottles (see the photo above), which I picked up at 5 Below for $5 each, meant that as soon as we cleared Security, we could fill up and have water on the plane. It saved us quite a bit of money since water in the airport is expensive! The ones we had came with a little hook which you could hook to your belt or purse, but more importantly, we hooked them over the side of the little pouch on the seat in front of us (the one that holds the SkyMiles magazine), so we didn't have to hold them and couldn't lose them.

...inflatable boogie boards. Last year, my kids were upset that they had nothing to play with in the ocean. Carrying Styrofoam boards on a plane was out of the question and paying $12 each at the beach was not happening. The ones I bought, again at 5 Below, were great because we used the bike pump at our hotel to blow the boards up and the kids boogie boarded not only in the ocean, but in the hotel's pool. The only problem was that they didn't come with elastic to strap from the board to the rider's hand. My son kept a death grip on his while surfing. Next year, I'll bring some elastic cord so we don't have that problem. 

Inflatable boogie board

...lots of Ziploc bags in various sizes. We used gallon-size bags to protect electronics while on the beach, to store medications, hold hair supplies, ice for our cooler (see below), etc. The extra large bags held our clothes and by compressing them, gave us a lot of extra room in each travel bag. 

...a collapsible cooler. I put this in my son's luggage, since he packs the least amount of clothes (don't ask). The cooler was wonderful because every day we'd pack some ice in a Ziploc bag (when the ice melted, we had more drinking water), add our filled water bottles, threw in some fruit, and stuck the cooler in the rental car. We always had cold provisions, even on the hottest days.

 

 ...bagel chips as a snack. These held up really nicely along with granola, protein bars (an essential for the Teen), and apples. 

Do NOT bring...

...muffins on the plane. They're way too crumbly and didn't hold up well at all. By the time we arrived in the West, we had a Ziploc bag of crumbs. Granted, it was fun to squish the crumbs and make one big muffin which the kids then, of course, thought was too icky to eat.

...Pillow Pets or their cheap knock-offs. Bunny dropped to the floor several times and was too gross to use as a pillow, even after I Lysoled it. Bunny is now in the garage, with luggage, waiting to be washed.

Overall, I was proud of my packing on this trip. The items above helped us a lot and made the trip more pleasant for the kids. And, as any parent knows, when the kids are happy, EVERYONE is happy!

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Thanks for reading!  Please join me again, won't you?  

My Favorite Beach Craft - Just For Me

If you've been reading this blog for a bit, you know that one of my favorite “Just For Me” items is to drive down to the beach while my kids are at school (to read about it, click here.  I spend a few hours listening to the waves, sometimes reading, often writing, walking along the shore, and generally re-charging my battery. I've collected lots of shells over the years which inevitably wind up either outside in my garden or tucked among my plants. I've even used one or two large ones as spoon rests. Recently, though, I came up with a simple, low-cost craft to remind myself of my most recent “Just For Me” days: a Memory Jar.

Here's how to make one. Grab a clean jar sans label. You could use a jelly jar, spaghetti jar, baby food jar – whatever you've got around the house. I just happened to have an empty mason jar in my craft area.

Fill it partially with sand. I happened to bring sand back from one of my trips, but you could use sandbox sand. Then, fill it with rocks and/or shells from the beach. In my button box, I also found two buttons that looked like flip flops, so I added them.

Stretch some material over the top of the jar and secure with a ribbon or rubber band. You can even put a shell on top.

I love how pretty the jar looks. It reminds me of something special I did for myself and the timelessness of the beach, how even as I sit landlocked outside a large city, the beautiful ocean waves beckon in my dreams. More beach excursions are in my future...after the kids go back to school. Until then, I have my Memory Jar to remind me how beautiful the shore is. 

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Thank you for reading!

Who Says NJ Is Ugly?

Mom's Playing Hookey

Portable hammock chair?  Check.  Fully-charged cellphone?  Check.  Tote bag packed with sunscreen, water, protein bars, books, pens?  Check.  Purse?  Check.  I gave instructions to the kids before school:  "Do NOT go to the nurse with anything less than broken bones today.  Mom's playing hookey at the beach."


I was always fond of the ocean, but my feelings grew a few summers ago when we vacationed in Cape Cod.  The ocean breeze cooled the hot flashes that had signaled the start of menopause.  The roar of the waves distracted me from the tinnitus I've lived with most of my life and made the slight hearing loss I'd been struggling with less noticeable.  I mean, no one speaks softly at the beach.  My love became voracious this summer during a trip to San Diego, which is my idea of Heaven On Earth.  There were so many pristine beaches, each more beautiful than the last!   I stood on the shores of Torrey Pines, willing my senses to memorize every sensation. The combination of sun, surf, and sand was intensely cleansing.  Leaving California was painful.

Unfortunately, my children do not share my love of the beach.  They tolerate it at best.  Although they love each other, thrown together, without video screens to distract them, my kids spend much of the time at the Shore fighting.  My husband, who enjoys the beach, though not as much as I do, tries to distract the kids, but it's no use.  It's no fun.

So when school started, I announced that I was going to take at least one day a month to see the ocean.  The much-maligned Jersey Shore is about 90 minutes from my house, too far for my taste, but close enough to make it back in time to pick up my daughter.  Crowded and obscenely expensive during the summer, it becomes quiet is free in the off-season.  Parts of it are breathtakingly beautiful, depending on how far from the New York area you want to go.  The place I go has a new pavilion, rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy, with clean bathrooms and street parking.  It's frequented by older people and mothers carrying toddlers, so there are just enough people around in case anything was to happen but not enough to mess with serenity.

Peace is mine there.  Most often, I sit on a chair at the pavilion and read or write.  Then I take off my shoes and schlep my bag to the edge of the water.  Sometimes I wade in, the waves licking at the bottom of my capris.  Then I sit...and remember other times when I've been at the ocean.  We went to Ocean City, Maryland for a few summers when my son was little.  There, I gazed at the ocean and dreamed of the baby girl we were adopting, so far away, across the water, in China.  I remembered, when I was single, the many cruises I took, by myself, not to meet anyone but just to experience the vastness of the ocean.  I remember other trips I've taken and beaches I've been on in Hawaii, Florida, Singapore, Italy, England, and Jamaica.   I smile, thinking of my honeymoon in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands; my husband and I lieing in a hammock, looking out at the ocean, and planning our future together..

It's good that the kids don't like the ocean.  It's MY space, one the kids at present cannot appreciate.  With only a simple tote bag as luggage, my day is a mini-vacation, the ocean a retreat.  Playing hookey there is like medication for my soul, soothing it and making me a calmer mother and a better person.  It is my gift to myself.