Holiday flights are so fun!

Another blog post from Mr. Deals…

Yesterday morning Mrs. Deals and I made the AWESOME decision to fly down to Florida with the rest of the northeast. After the experience, I question what the hell was going through Mrs. Deals head when she made these arrangements. Luckily, we were flying out of Long Islands, MacArthur Airport and not one of the big boys of the NYC area (LGA or JFK). Since it’s a small airport, the only thing we had to deal with was the hordes of long islanders flying south for some sun.

Well, there was no shortage of kids wide awake at 5:30am to keep us entertained, and we were so lucky we actually each got to enjoy the company of two kids next to us on our flight down south (don’t worry, we actually really enjoy kids – we were both Summer camp counselors). Boy was this an experience. Since we were flying Southwest, the seating is random and we unluckily got put in the C line. Given the amount of families boarding, we knew there was no shot we would be sitting together. So as the last folks on the plane to find seats, Mrs. Deals grabbed a window seat next to 6 and 8 year olds, while I enjoyed the company of a mom traveling with her 10 month old and a 3.5 year old.

I’ll start with Mrs. Deals experience. After learning that the father of these kids was not a good traveler (he had issues with motion sickness), and that the mom needed to take care of the dad the whole flight, Mrs. Deals realized that she was in for an interesting experience. The 8 year old was the talkative one, thinking that Mrs. Deals was about to turn 20 and asking her what she wanted to be when she grew up (total ego boost for Mrs. Deals). The 8 year old was also not a good flyer. A bit into the flight, she was not feeling so hot and her stomach was not happy. Fortunately, Mrs. Deals had a bag from a bagel and was quick to the rescue to save her from taking the brunt of an 8 year old’s breakfast on her lap. The mom and dad were really appreciative, so much so that I was told I had an awesome wife when they walked past me getting off the flight (I’d have to agree). Have no fear, Mrs. Deals came out unscathed, but she didn’t get the nap she was hoping for on that flight.

Meanwhile, I landed myself a sweet spot in the front row, next to my new friends, two little girls under the age of 4 (and their mother). When I sat down, the mom looks at me and goes “lucky you” in a sarcastic tone with a smile. I laughed and said not to worry. The 10 month old was a smiley little one and was happy as could be until about 45 minutes into the flight. It was occasional cries and throwing of cheerios, but nothing too bad. Just as I was about to close my eyes, the 3.5 year old decided she had an agenda that included me. I felt a poke on my arm and from then on the movement did not stop. She told me about the cast of Toy Story through the sticker book that she had. Sounds like Rex is her favorite character. But the best part was that we got to color. We had some paper and crayons and she told me what color to use and then I could draw whatever I wanted. I drew an airplane, then a sun, and then a house. We then colored it all in with crazy scribbles. While I didn’t get a nap, I was entertained and really couldn’t complain.

That said, after all this I think we’ll be a little more selective with our flight choices in the future. It really wasn’t that bad, I mean we got in on time with no delays at all. We just missed out on getting a little rest.

I’m not going to lie, I love coloring.