Maiden international flight with a toddler – a memoir

The boy was 2, the girl was 5 when I embarked on a plane journey (first time with the kids), from Mumbai to New York. Here are some defining moments!

• On Mumbai airport he had a good time rolling on the floor, fresh clothes be damned!
• He was pointing fingers at a Chinese man, yelling “Mom, Chinese”. Very embarrassing, but thankfully no one understood his childish version -“Mom, Shinese”.
• She, on the other hand was my tiny savior. She dutifully kept him occupied at Mumbai airport while I filled all the immigration forms.
• As we stood in line to board the plane, he went on to pull off the carryon tags on every passenger’s bag. No ‘Shinese’, American or Indian was spared. Every time the rubber snapped, he looked at me with glee and I looked away like I did not know him.
• Inflight entertainment was not provided by Continental. It was provided by him. Orange juice was on the floor twice, seats belts were not used at all, and the airhostess was referred to as “air hostess bai”.
• Then there was silence and the kids slept good 8 hours straight. Thank God! And then it started again..
• Three inside the airline toilet was no fun….
• At New York, while I stood in the immigration line, he ran around (again) and I was almost on the verge of a breakdown. The 10 kg backpack on my shoulders wasn’t making it easy either.
• While I talked to the immigration officer with him in my arms and she by my side, he reached out for the officer’s pens and they all fell down. Thankfully he was a sweet guy and just said “Hey buddy you are not supposed to touch that. Would it be ok if I came home and touched your stuff?” The boy gave him a i-don’t-understand-your-English look and continued to reach out for the pens. The officers face turned grimmer. At that time, I wasn’t really afraid he would deport us. My fear was he would send us on a flight back and I had no energy to sit with the devil for another 15 hours!
• Jet lag had caught up on him. He was lying on the New York airport floor now. Jet lag had caught up on me too. If I could, I would be doing the same!
• 5 minutes on the floor and he had regained his energy. At baggage claim he wanted to get our bags off the carousel. I tried explaining to him that he was little and would not be able to lift the bag of the belt but he was in no mood to listen. He would try and pull the bag, fall down and the bag would go ahead and make one full circle before coming back. Finally, I lost my patience and he got his first spanking in the US
• Magical moment – meeting the husband at the arrival gate. How was the journey he asked? Just take the kid I said.

* Dear travellingdesi readers: Next time you see a mother struggling with a toddler in flight, just give her a salute and a warm hug. Please!