The one thing you must take
No – my medications don’t need adjusting. Let me tell you how I have arrived at the conclusion that a rubber chicken is an essential item to take on an international trip even when only taking carry-on luggage.
Last night I was lying awake thinking about the logistics of travelling with kids on a long haul flight. While the two boys are happy enough to be plugged into the nearest gaming device for hours on end, Cityhall is not so docile. She still needs a good routine (well, lucked out on the parents there) and is quite energetic (again, bad luck on the parent front). Even her swiming teacher remarked on Cityhall’s ability to just keep going like the battery bunny. [amtap amazon:asin=B001FBN1M2] What I realised, was we were going to have to put focused effort into making sure we got up and did some type of exercise or games during the flight. This is quite a challenge on a plane given that whatever we do will have to be quiet and in a confined space.
So I’m making a list and checking it… obsessively. I’ve started going through some of my PE handbooks and games books. I came up with three types of activities – things to do at airports where we can have lots of movement and space (and probably a bit more noise), things to do on the plane if we can find a corner or space behind / in front of seats, and things to do on the plane that are very quiet and confined. With this I came up with a list of equipment to bring. This included rubber erasers, rubber bands, small empty boxes packed flat and an inflatable beach ball. My idea was that the inflatable beach ball could be used to play catch or four square or similar while we are in the airports.
Then I discovered this book [amtap amazon:asin=0736063927] I actually found it at Groovy Games where it comes bundled with a rubber chicken. (I think I found it looking for Wikki Stix in Australia – as recomended on travel with kids sites everywhere) [amtap amazon:asin=B00000J0H7] So I HAVE to have the Chicken Noodle Game book and the rubber chicken. They look hilarious. And I decided it was about 100,000 times more interesting to play catch with a rubber chicken at an airport than with a beachball. Plus I really want the security personnel to ask us why we are bringing a rubber chicken so that I can answer “for religious reasons”. And that’s when I realised that the most important thing you can bring on an adventure is your sense of humour.
Go on, I know you want one too. [amtap amazon:asin=B0000BYQAO]
