Taking a Plane Trip With Kids

Sooner or later you are going to find yourself having to take a plane trip with your kids. This is a nightmare because for your kid it amounts to being a small limited space within in which there is nothing to do for a really long time. No wondered thy become so whiny, noisy and annoying on these trips.

There is no way of stopping the plane so your kids can get out and run around or stretch their legs. They have to make do in the small cabin. Most moms know that this means annoying the other passengers by running up an d down again.

Hopefully the airlines you go on will have some form of electronic entertainment. Most seats have a television, even if you are flying in economy class. Try and choose seats where it is easy for your kids to see the television. I have even used an ordinary camcorder to entertain my kids on a long flight. I let them film. It keeps them amused for hours. For them looking in the viewfinder is the equivalent of watching television. A laptop with a DVD player or a portable DVD player can also keep your kids amused for many hours. Just be sure to charge those batteries before the plane takes off.

Of course if you are really lucky you will have kid stat enjoy reading books. I have a kid like that. My teenager reads. I can give her anything from a MAD magazine to Wuthering Heights and she will settle down with it on the plane.

Unfortunately most kids find airplane food yucky unless it is packaged in a really neat way. Tell the stewardess that you would rather that they don't drink sugary drinks like coke as that can inspire them to start yelling and screaming and running up and down the aisles.

You should bring your own food just in case your kids can't stomach the airplane stuff. Also I have found that most stewardesses are happy to warm up milk for you if need be.

The other big issue is pain in the ears from pressurizing during liftoff and landing. If they are really young they can get in a lot of pain. Encourage your children to keep chewing gum or drink with a straw to minimize the pressure.

You should also be careful of what toys you give them to play with on the plane. Plane cabins are small. You don't want musical instruments or pocket video games that are too noisy. You don't want glue or anything that can create a huge mess. Usually crayons are okay if the kids are old enough. However they are a bad idea if you think your kid is going to start putting his or her own graffiti all over the seats.

Temperature in airplanes tends to be chilly so be sure to bring sweaters and blankets so that they do not suffer from chattering teeth.

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Getting the Kids to Eat

Cooking for kids so they will actually consume enough can be a challenge. This is true of my kid at home now who is almost five but is eating only bananas and tomato soup unless I am very clever with it all and do my best to try and get him to eat something different.

Problem is he is really picky and what he thinks is great one day is yucky the next. Remember how much I told you he loved pesto last year. Well he is off it now. It looks like green yucky he says. I tried putting less garlic in it and that didn't' help.

Of course he is so stubborn and I am wondering if he is getting the right nutrition. His eating patters waver from being massively hungry to eating like two peas a day. I have also figured out that most kids his age are more like grazers rather than really chow it all down in one sitting. It is also hard to get him to see eating as being fun sometimes.

All you can do is try to get them some nutrition through the foods you know they love. A good example is macron and cheese. In fact my kids would eat that every single day if they could. Of course one can't live on Kraft Dinner alone so I add my own cheese for added calcium and protein.

I also make sure they get calcium by adding chocolate to the milk. Right now he likes that Strawberry Quik stuff. I am always thinking – whatever makes you healthy. However when I buy these mixes I make sure there is not too much sugar in them.

Calcium is also found in vegetables, ice cream, pudding and yogurts. Cherries also have it so cherry flavored yogurt is a very good idea. However watch it with yogurt as if it is not sweet enough the kids will always turn their nose up at it.

Another thing to remember is that kids do have sensitive taste buds. Like us they have tastes. They may like some foods and not always. They may have real opinions about what they want to eat and what they don't want to eat.

I try to encourage them to help me cook in the kitchen as much as possible. This helps to get them used to different foods. If they have tried a food and don't like it then you should just trust the kid. No sense forcing them to eat something they really don't like. It's frustrating but I believe in treating a child with as much respect as possible and as much like they are humans with tastes and preferences like the adults.

At any rate, I have found that kids who have a hand in cooking are more likely to eat the meal without whining. It is because they feel they have created something.

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