True Auntie Love

I clearly love my niece and nephew…and it can be summed up as follows:  I forwent a relaxing flight to New York and back by myself in order to be on the same flight as Dana, Ray, Cassidy and Blake.  It seemed like the sisterly thing to do and would ensure that the family made it out there for Erin and Nick´s wedding.   What could have been 6+ hours of sleeping, reading and relaxing turned into the complete opposite.  I am not complaining and in fact, can now find the humor in the unfortunate turn of events, but based on the below it might be hard to believe otherwise.

Embracing my critical role of auntie, I read up on flying with kids and learned all of the tricks and tips of the trade: bring wrapped toys to keep them entertained, pack a spare change of clothes for yourself and extra ziplock baggies just in case, and smuggle on board snacks and suckers in case the air pressure gets too bad.  After all of my research and planning I had more in my carry on for those two kids than I did for myself. 

I met the Geimer family at SFO Monday night for our red-eye out, and I quickly assumed my role as the family Sherpa….Both on our treks to, from and through the airport, I was there to assist.  With Ray injured with a broken shoulder, and Dana with her hands full, I helped carry the kids, wheel the luggage and get everything unloaded and reloaded through security and onto the plane. And with a last minute surprise of FAA regulations preventing us all from sitting in the same row, I had to manage the 6+ hour flights with Cassidy on my lap without the immediate support of Dana or Ray.  To be fair, Cassidy slept the entire flight out to New York so my only inconvenience on the first leg of the trip was that I was unable to sleep with my adorable 22 month old niece sprawled out on my lap. 

However any small victories from the flight out were all but wiped away on the flight home…I definitely earned my Auntie Stripes.  With the standard hour delay getting out of JFK (on top of the 2 hour train ride to the airport), Cassidy still managed to sleep the first 3 hours of the flight, again in the comfort of my lap.  It wasn´t until hour 4 that she became restless from exhaustion and just wanted her mom.  Although inconsolable, I still relentlessly tried to sooth her tears and get her back to sleep.  And just mere minutes or seconds away from success, tragedy struck…she puked!  All over herself and me (and thankfully not on the barren woman who was sitting next to us).  

In a calm panic, I made my way to the back of the plane, followed by Ray with the bags to get Cassidy and myself cleaned up and changed (thank god I packed a spare change of clothes and the ziplock baggies!). 

Thankfully after the puking incident, things went back to somewhat normal.  Cassidy sat on Ray´s lap the rest of the flight and a nice woman a few rows back gave Cassidy her iPad to play with (she apparently had kids and could sympathize…as did the man who played musical seats with Ray and me to allow for us to have 2 aisle seats).  And while Cassidy was completely back to normal by the time we got off the flight, I was haunted by the memory for at least 3 days. If the tears from before she puked were heart-breaking, seeing Cassidy stand naked in the back of the plane crying and shaking was enough to make me re-think having kids (I don´t think I can handle the stress and pain of not being able to console a child). 

On a side note: both of my siblings have made me re-think kids (Cody due to the trauma of being at the hospital when he was born and now Dana, flying with her adorable kids).   It finally took a heart to heart with both my mom and Martin to convince me I was not a bad Auntie and would make a good mom. 

In all, the two six hour flights were worth it, as it allowed me an entire week with those two munchkins.  And I would do it all again in a second if I had to…although if I am in that situation again, I might think twice about buying an extra ticket for my mom to join as well. 

  

 Love you Cassidy!