Preparing to Travel with a Little One (and not go insane)

We are preparing for a trip to our hometown (Rochester, NY - well, specifically the suburb of Webster). While this is not Daphne's first airplane trip -- this is her first airplane ride since becoming a fully mobile toddler...which, frankly, scares the bejeezus out of us. 

::queue the rising anxiety and blood pressure please::

Most of you that travel via an airplane know that air travel comes with its own stressors. There are so many things to take into consideration when flying, now add a lap child into that mix. Why yes, we've chosen to not pay for Daphne to have her own seat -- which has its very own set of prejudgements for us, even before we take off! Not shocking to us at all, since everything one does as a parent seems to be 'wrong' in someone else's eyes -- hey, they don't KNOW us; they haven't walked 2 steps (let alone a mile) in our shoes. Leave your judgements at the security gate with your contraband, forgotten laptop and spare change, thank you very much.

We researched toddler flight stuff like it was our job. We scoured the internet for any advice / travel tips with toddlers. So. Much. To. Read.

Some concerns are (in no particular order):

• security - Rachel starts sweating at just the thought of going through TSA
• will we be that couple with that child on our flight? 
• how will we keep Daphne entertained for the flights / layovers?
• did we bring enough 'stuff' in our carry on bag for every unexpected emergency possible?

The second bullet is on the forefront of Rachel's mind each time we have flown with Daphne, but for our sanity, we have learned that we can’t control how people react to us; we can only control our attitudes. There will be eye-rollers and scoffers, annoyed to be sitting near a family with a small child. (This was our experience flying back from Vegas in August 2012 when Daphne was just 7 months old) And there’s nothing we can do about it. Just be as pleasant as possible, but if they still choose to be the victim of our circumstances, that’s their issue and not ours. This season is short. Flying with little kids is difficult.

No doubt you've probably seen this little ditty below making its way around social media:

This is not us. There is no way you could get either of us to apologize IN ADVANCE to everyone on the flight that Daphne may, quite possibly, potentially have an outburst of some sort anytime during the flight. We didn't do it when Daphne was just 3 weeks old from California to North Carolina and wouldn't dream of doing in general. We knew we weren't the first parents to fly with a small infant child and we certainly won't be the last. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion on this - so please, no judgements here...to each his own.

We are also very happy about not having to carry all of the needed baby gear (car seat, stroller, pack 'n play) through the airport, which would require a luggage camel and professional guide. Adam's parents have extra everything -- that is us getting very lucky!

We will most likely have a follow-up post, after our trip - just to compare travel notes and hopefully let you all know that the flights were uneventful. Keep your fingers crossed!