Thank Goodness...

It's been a while since I posted. I am busy helping my sister tame our 5 children. It's not always an easy task. Anyway, as I was flying here alone with my two children I gained a greater respect for humankind. I had two separate flights with an almost three hour layover. Not only did I have my hands very full, but it all started just before nap time. The kids did very well considering, but I was very stressed out all day. Luckily I was able to have Shaun help me to the gate. I don't know how I would have made it through security without him. It was a mess even with both of us. I felt lucky again when we were seated next to a nice woman, who was a mother, in our first plane. She really helped Ethan not to feel nervous during take-off and landing. She also got snacks out of Ethan's backpack (which he won't wear) while I was feeding Spencer. When we got off that plane a nice man stopped and offered to help me with whatever I needed, but of course the only thing I could think of was to have him take my kids for the remainder of the day. Since that didn't sound like such a good idea, I said "I think I'll be ok, thank you." I think he sensed I was lying. Oh well. I can't say much positive about the layover, but I did survive, after all. I did have one man tell me that he hoped I could now get a break (from childbearing) as my hands were so full. I guess that was nice. Our next flight was a little bit longer and we didn't get off to a very good start; Spencer had a blowout during take-off. We were seated next to another very nice woman who was a grandmother. She did a lot to entertain Ethan and even let him put his feet on her lap while he took a nap.
She held his hand as we walked off of the plane, too. When we arrived at our destination, we had to wait for my sister to pick us up. I struggled to get my baggage off of the carousel with Spencer in a Snugli. One woman was kind enough to pull one of my bags off for me, but I got the three larger ones. I then stood next to the carousel with four suitcases, three small carry-on bags and two children completely helpless and wondering what to do next. I watched everyone leave the area effortlessly with their bags and when they were all gone I decided to take my bags and my children, a couple at a time, to stand next to a wall where I was out of the way and waited for my car seat that was apparently stuck in the large items machine. When the airport employee finally brought me my car seat, she also helped me put my stuff on a cart and wheel it over to some chairs so that I could sit and wait. There are other things that happened that I am trying to forget so that I will dare to fly home so I won't mention them here. I would have been so relieved when my ride arrived, but it only meant three more hours of traveling in a car. Needless to say, I survived, but on that day I thought I might not. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS there are still plenty of people in this world who are kind enough to help when they see a need. I may not have made it otherwise.