Our flight back home was today and I knew I needed to take drastic measures to avoid another experience like we had coming down 10 days prior. Completely against my mom and stepmother's wishes (they both made it abundantly clear how horrible of an idea this was), I decided to give Sam a dosage of Benadryl in the hopes of knocking her out on the airplane.
A few people told me that I should try it out in advance to make sure it doesn't have the opposite effect and make her super-hyper. When I gave her the test dose a few days prior about 1 hour before her regular nap time, it did nothing to alter the nap one way or another. It didn't cause her to fall asleep any faster, and it didn't make her sleep any longer than usual. It also didn't cause her to not fall asleep. So I figured maybe by giving her the Benadryl, it will take the edge off and cause her to be a little less "joyful" and hopefully be content hanging out in the car seat while flying.
I do have to mention that the flight crew and passengers on this flight were much more helpful than before. As I was boarding and nearing my row, a man 3 rows back jumped out of his seat and came to my rescue asking what he could do to help. I would love to thank his mom and tell her she did a good job raising him. The only thing I could give him at that moment to help was Samantha. He was a good sport holding her as I quickly tried to get the car seat off my back and adjusted in the seat.
And, I am happy to report that two of the flight attendants helped me strap in the car seat. Something that never happened on the flight down. No one even checked to see if her seat was strapped in.
I am not sure why we got on the plane so early. I didn't realize just how much time we still had before take-off. Rule number 1 in my book is try to board as late as possible. As long as you already have assigned seats (meaning, you are not flying Southwest), getting the kids strapped in their seats waiting out the rest of boarding is a bad idea. We were seated on the plane and ready for take-off at 3:30pm for a 4:00pm air time. Jeez!! And, we were one of the last on board too. So we basically just sat there until 3:55pm when they shut the door and began take-off procedures. So not cool in my book! If I had my watch on (it ended up getting left behind in my mom's car when I was trying to keep Sam entertained with it on the way to the airport), I would've realized what was going on. It wasn't until I called Jeff from the plane and saw the time on the cell phone. When you have a limited amount of time on how good your child is going to be, you want it to count when you are actually in the air, not sitting on the ground going nowhere.
I have to say that Ian was a rockstar. I am even willing to put it out there that I would fly with him anywhere, even flights longer than 2 hours. As long as he isn't getting drenched in orange juice, he was very well behaved and was very mindful of when the iPod Touch needed to be turned off. Every time the pilot made an announcement Ian asked if that meant it was time for him to turn it off.
Sam, on the other hand, has a long way to go. I fear we are in for the same bumpy ride we had previously with Ian. The biggest issue was the shrieking. It is a loud, very high pitched scream that I am sure would be considered a form of torture in some interrogation tactics. It can produce instant headaches and make you wish you were deaf if you were sitting next to her. Sam has managed to perfect this shriek with and without a mouthful of food. And, I can't imagine it is for the sole purpose of getting attention because she shrieks when I play with her and when I try to ignore she is doing it. Sam shrieked on and off consistently the whole time we were in the air!!!
After about an hour, she had enough of the car seat and wanted to get out. Fortunately the guy behind us started making faces at her and she loved that. There was a young girl sitting in the seat in front us and they were checking each other out in the space between the seats. And, of course the poopy diaper needing to be changed took up another 5 minutes. In all my 4 years of flying with the kids, this was the first time I changed a diaper in the plane's bathroom. I have to say, it wasn't that bad.
I am happy to report that I survived the flight home. I didn't even feel like crying when it was time to get off the plane. We had a great time in Orlando, but I am happy to be home. I can breathe easier knowing that when we do this trip again in just 6 weeks, I will have Jeff with me to assist. We've already decided we are going to sit in different rows and each take one kid. I think that will help greatly. Sam was still throwing toys at Ian. I was watching her do it...she very innocently looked straight ahead and took a toy and flung it in his direction on purpose. Ian was still not pleased by this, but at least this time he didn't yell at his sister, he just threw it to me in the hopes I wouldn't give it back to her to play with.
And, I've come to the sad realization that Benadryl has no effect whatsoever on Samantha. It doesn't calm her and it doesn't make her overly excited. I guess in some way this is a good thing. I need to face the fact that it took Ian until he was 4 to be able to fly without giving me an anxiety attack afraid we will get kicked off the plane and just like his little sister, I fear I still have another 3 years to go with her too. Jeff thinks that Sam might be more 'spirited' than Ian and has just been holding back until now. If I wasn't so tired right now writing this, I'd be freaked out by that thought.
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