Two and a half weeks flew by. Josh is always telling me that the kids and I should go to the US for a month and just rent a house. I don't know why we haven't done it. Maybe next year. Though with a month, imagine my spending Josh!!! He may regret making that suggestions!!
Regardless, eventually the time came to say our final goodbyes and get on the plane back to Barcelona. I can't say that I wasn't excited to be coming home because I was. After 2 1/2 weeks of living out of a suitcase where we often went days at a time switching beds on a nightly basis, it gets old and you just want some routine and your own bed.
So we packed up our 4 suitecases ready to hit the road. But wait, one of these weighs 60 lbs! How is that possible? Did I really add 10 lbs more stuff in it since I had last weighed it a few days before? I weighed it again and so did my dad...yup, apparently I did. So the option was to give up 10 lbs of precious American goodies or to go buy another bag at Target. I opted for the latter. But for only 10 lbs of overage, was it worth paying the extra money for a suitcase and the $50 for the extra bag? No, it's not. So I "had" to fill it. While I Target I picked up just a "few" more things ;) After all, I might as well make the most of my money. In the end we had 5 - 50 lbs suitcases ready to go!!!
But given our experience getting to Boston, I was definitely a bit apprehensive about flying with Liam. I packed a lot of diaper wipes for cleansing, a change of clothes and of course, puke bags. What I also packed was benadryl. Now I have no doubt that I'm going to get some feedback opinions on this one. I've never ever given my kids meds before flying. They are excellent fliers. Never have I had an issue with either of them. I always hear parents joking about giving their kids benadryl so they will sleep on the flight and honestly, was slightly mortified. But then, don't judge lest you be judged. And so given our flight over, I decided to make the leap and give Liam some benadryl, not just so my flight could be more peaceful, but more so because I didn't want him to go through what he went through again. I have no doubt he was absolutely miserable on the flight over and I wanted to spare him that.
About 20 minutes before the flight I gave him a little cup of the benadryl and didn't think much of it. But let me first set the scene for the rest of the story. When we got on the plane, there was a rather "large" (I use this term loosely, she was at least 350 lbs) woman already in our row. We were in the middle row of a large airbus (the kind with an upstairs area) so there were 4 seats in our row and only 3 of us. I know Aidan likes the aisle and so I put Liam between myself and this woman. Before I've even put our bags under the seats, the woman in front of Liam (she was maybe my age or younger) turns around to me and says "please keep an eye on little feet kicking my seat during the flight". I'm sorry, but WTF??? You don't know me, my kid or how he flies and for god's sake, we haven't even sat down, he hasn't even had the chance to kick your sorry ass seat!! Now for those that know me well know that I'm not the confrontational type nor am I good on the fly. But I have to admit, I found my courage and my voice on this one. My response to her "actually he's a great flier and flies almost monthly so you don't have to worry about him kicking your seat...however, you may want to watch out for the vomit". She looked a bit mortified and hey, I don't blame her. She eventually moved over to the aisle seat next to her that was free, probably fearful for her life after that. The woman next to Liam asked if Aidan should sit there instead. Now given that she was already half in Liam's seat there was no way that I could ask Aidan to sit there, he would have been squished. Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on overweight people - this is just a fact. She was half in Liam's seat. Aidan would not have fit there. So I told her he's not aware when he's going to throw up and will just use a bag and look away.
Ok, so back to the benadryl. Liam was asleep less than 5 minutes after the flight began. Never ever has this happened. So then I got all worried that I gave him too much. I could see his pulse going near his throat and just focused on that. What was I thinking???? However, he did sleep peacefully for 4 1/2 of the 5 1/2 hour flight even when his next door neighbor shoved her elbow in his face (because again she was half in his seat with the armrest up) without even being aware, he just stirred and went back to sleep. Aidan also took some and was out about an hour into the flight until just about landing.
Aidan was awake for his meal though and since we ate in the airport before boarding, he just ate his dessert (which was fine with me...this is a kid who asked for a salad for dinner just about every night of the trip). While both kids were sleeping, the woman next to Liam actually asked if Liam was going to eat (I turned away his meal when the stewardess came by) to which I told her he ate in the airport and was fine sleeping. She then asked me if Aidan was going to eat his dessert. Seriously????? Again, not picking on anyone, but big or small, do you really ask a stranger if you can have their dessert? That's a bit forward for me. But regardless, he ate his so I had to tell her no.
We made it to London unscathed which was great...other than me not sleeping because I was paranoid watching Liam's pulse. Again, no more benadryl!!! We grabbed some breakfast in the airport and wandered around for a little bit. Aidan saw a Starbucks and asked for a coffee frappuchino. I didn't think much of it. He drinks them every now and again and loves coffee. So given how great he was on the flight, I said yes. BAD IDEA!!!!! Talk about WIDE AWAKE. OMG...the child barely said two words to me in 2 1/2 weeks suddenly had SOOOOO MUCH TO SAY as I tried in vain to sleep on the 2nd leg of our flight. He talked non stop. It's all my fault and I know it. But I begged him over and over again to just stop and let me sleep. Lessons learned. No more benadryl and no coffee!!!!!!
Regardless, it was an overall uneventful flight which is exactly how I like them. We made it back to Barcelona in one piece with our 5 - 50 lb suitcases. It wasn't til we got to our door that I realized that perhaps I'd gone overboard with the shopping. With several flights of stairs with awkward 50 lb bags, I was drenched in sweat by the time I got them all upstairs. Another lesson learned... perhaps less shopping is in order. That and it took me several hours to unpack everything. It was worth it though for all my American goodness!!!!!
That night I was in bed by 9 and slept the best I had in weeks. It felt good to be back home and in my own bed. I was up at the crack of dawn to hit the gym by 6:45 and it felt even better to get back into my routines. I miss "home home" already but it feels good to be back in Barcelona. Til next year Boston!!!
Besos,
Julie
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