Traveling was....well traveling....
Maybe you can learn from our mistakes? Never mind, it was just one mistake...
1. We over packed.
The minute my amazing friend, Dena, dropped us off, things went badly. I left John in the dust to take care of 7 heavy bags because it was cold outside and I was worried about Diana.
I rushed inside, while John was struggling, and the line for tickets was LOOOONNNGGG...so I freaked out and got in line right away with Diana. John is outside still struggling.
I'm trying to wait patiently in line with Diana, but in the meantime, Diana discovered a defibrillator. She opened a door and set off an alarm. I closed it right away, but yeah, that was fun. John was still outside struggling with our enormous bags.
When John was finally able to make it in, Diana was not having this whole wait in line crap, so we tried strapping her in to her umbrella stroller. That was a no go. She still found ways to maneuver out of it. Her body went limp about 30 different times. It was a great family memory.
We finally get to security, and security stops us. We had "bulky backpacks" so yes, we are terrorists with a two year old. Waited for 30 minutes for security to finally determine that we were not ISIS and we were free to go.
Diana wasn't having any of this crap either, so I am doing my best Disney princess voice, trying to get down on her level and say, "LOOK AT THE PLANES!" She's ready to run away with another family to a tropical destination.
I finally turn on my teacher voice and say, "THAT IS ENOUGH" and she calmed down for exactly one minute. By that point, security was finally saying we were free to go. As we are walking to our gate, Diana is throwing her baby doll that she decided to take like a football. She could seriously not care if this baby doll lived or died. Every minute I'm having to pick baby doll off the floor, as I am holding Diana's hand, and carrying her backpack and mine and pushing a stroller.
Dena pointed out to me later that I should have just put baby in the stroller and had Diana push it, but it was done at that point. While D wasn't looking I threw the baby in the trash. I am a horrible mother. She has not complained or noticed its absence, so I don't feel so bad.
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Airplane went fine. No drama there. We left the umbrella stroller at the gate because Diana was NOT having it, so buh bye Walmart stroller.
Midway Airport, we had a plan. John was to get the rental, while I watched Diana. It took about an hour to get the rental car, because it's Chicago and Chicago SUCKS...there, I said it.
Anywhozile...Diana wants to touch and talk into every payphone at Midway terminal. You know the scene in Elf where he eats the gum off the handrails? It felt a lot like that. You KNOW there are germs on those phones, but the kid is happy, and it kept her occupied for 45 minutes, so whatever.
The only time I had a minor heart attack is when John called to say he was pulling up. I was holding on to Diana's hand, and I told her to put her other hand on the iron fencing that we were next to so we would say in one location. Well, she somehow found a way to crawl in between two fence posts as I was talking to John and not watching her for 30 seconds. I knew at that moment, I would be the mother on the 5 o'clock news who had to have the Chicago Fire Department cut her stuck kid out of a fence.
I was able to get her free, with no crying, and meet John at the car. From that moment, to the car, I put my glasses in the car door, but I completely forgot. Half way to Gary, Indiana, I'm crying my eyes out because I knew I left my glasses in stupid Chicago, and it was just a lot, and OMG. So, yeah. That wasn't needed, because John found them when we got to my sister's house.
This is all to say....Diana actually did really well. She had one MINOR tantrum, but besides that, she was laughing and having fun the whole time. John's a saint. I'm a mess, but what else is new? It's been worth it so far.
