Peggy should win an award!

[alison]

I think M should live with you guys, P. She LOVES the Lunchbox Monkey app. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve for occupying toddlers, P and anyone else?

Have you tried the other Lunchbox Monkey apps (math and virtual dress up)?

[alison]

I don't remember who suggested it, but the crayola no mess pens and paper are also a hit! We bought M the princess-themed set, and while she loves it, this particular set isn't quite no-mess. The glitter comes off the page. There's glitter everywhere. I blew my nose and found glitter in the kleenex.

[peggyfromwastate]

I didn't suggest the color wonder stuff-- my older kids loved it and we have tons of it, but dd3 gets frustrated bc the colors take so long to show!! She does like putting the caps back on and off the markers though...

We have the "girl" money lunchbox game too- Josie sometimes chooses it but she usually sticks with the boy game.

She actually likes the doodle buddy app too- it has lots of stickers, different backgrounds, etc. she likes that kind of thing.

She just goes between apps now-- barely needs my help. It's kind of scary...

When do you leave for paradise?

[alison]

Revisiting this...

We leave at the end of April.

So... Dramamine was a bust, like I think I mentioned before. It was actually a little scary and I didn't like seeing dd under the influence of it. Her speech was slurred, she complained that she was dizzy, and she held on tightly to one of us until it wore off. Ugh.

Have any of you tried herbs...? Have earthmoms rubbed off on me now that I've been here for a year? . Specifically, things like Wishgarden non-sedative sleep aids for kids. You give it to the kids in a little dropper. Is it hogwash?

[Pollyanna]

Ummm, I really don't think it is necessary to medicate M for the flight. She is going to do fine. Having that expectation alone will get you farther than you think.

[Deebs]

I would not even attempt medicating one of my kids for a flight. You can do it! She'll be fine. Hopefully you'll get someone near you who loves kids.

[peggyfromwastate]

Never medicated. Except for some tylenol if they are very crabby- on the off chance it has to do with actual pain....

[Michele]

Yeah. Don't medicate her. She will be fine. You will be fine. It will be ok.

[SuzySunshine]

I wouldn't medicate her either and my son is probably one of the worst fliers ever and I don't medicate him.

Take a bag of tricks/toys, she'll do great!

[alison]

Thanks.... It's not the Hawaii trip that I'm worried about (5.5 hours), it's the 11-hour one in July. M will not sleep unless she's lying down flat--she doesn't sleep in the car. When she gets tired, she gets extremely fidgety and inconsolable. That's the part that I'm worried about.

[Pollyanna]

Thanks.... It's not the Hawaii trip that I'm worried about (5.5 hours), it's the 11-hour one in July. M will not sleep unless she's lying down flat--she doesn't sleep in the car. When she gets tired, she gets extremely fidgety and inconsolable. That's the part that I'm worried about.

You can make her a bed in the airplane seats for the long flight (unless you have the car seat). Put a blanket on the seat, lift all the arm rests, bring a little pillow and let her put her legs on you with the rest of her body laying in her seat, cover with a blankie. It's not perfect but may allow her to get comfy and sleep.

[alison]

I bought a car seat that will apparently fit in the overhead bin. Yeah, I shelled out big money so that we'll have the flexibility to use it or stow it depending on how M does. She's definitely not a flexible personality-most 2-year olds of course aren't-and things spiral out of control if they aren't just so.

[peggyfromwastate]

My most difficult traveler was izzy- and she didn't sleep no matter what. Once she was up for 23 hours due to lovely delays... No sleep. Eventually they get so tired they just don't cry anymore lol.

It will be ok. You still have a while until the trip and it only gets easier to travel with them. I think the peak of the PITA scale for traveling with kids is around 24 months.

[alison]

Thanks, T and P. This is a pretty difficult age as far as sitting still is concerned. We'll get through it.

Just bought the tickets to Germany today.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Not sure how comfortable you'd be with this but when we were little (3.5-5 for me and 0-1.5 for my brother), my dad was in a job overseas and we did lots of 10 hour flights in the bulkhead row. One parent would sit in the aisle to block the way and then we had free rein of the "play area" from them to the window. They definitely made us little beds and we laid on the floor on blankets. I don't know how you'd feel about her sleeping unbelted (and a b*tchy flight attendant might stop you) but that's how they survived it. Especially since those flights are often overnight, you might be able to bed her down with the overhead lights off and she'd be sleeping flat.

At one point we did two of those 10 hour flights in a 5-day stretch because we were furloughed home and landed back in Europe (where we were living) only to be told he'd been transferred and to head back to house hunt immediately.