Suitcases for Toddler

When traveling with children, it seems like you might have done better to just pack up your entire house, ordered a moving van and driven across the country for your three day weekend away. It's impossible to 'go light' no matter how hard you try. So, at least be sure to bring the right suitcase. Here some obvious tips:

• Don't go any bigger than you absolutley must.
• Wheels are essential.
• Don't use the suitcase with the broken leg (like we did), just because you 'thought it would work.'
• Get one of those compact, small duffels that fold down to the size of wallet, so when you bring items back, you've got an extra, small carry on.
• Oh...and make sure your kid can pull it if you really want to slow yourself down.

Alex loves to pull suitcases around. It doesn't matter if their empty or overloaded. And, he's most likely to take his time and go in the opposite direction of where you are headed. But, boy can he haul....I guess, practice makes perfect.

FAA Regulations Should Indicate No Jumping

The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, is the agency responsible for maintaining all aircraft safety in the United States. They have determined that all travelers should listen to safety instructions at the beginning of every commercial flight. The frequent flyer can recite the announcements in unison with any flight attendant. Buckle your seatbelt, follow the lighting to emergency exits, life vests are under your seat, etc. etc. In the case of a real emergency, you’d be likely to forget everything no matter how much you’ve traveled. But, here are some rules they should probably start announcing if there are any 2-year-olds on the plane:

• Do not use the chair arm rest as a diving board. Specifically, do not jump into your seat, head first, as if it was a swimming pool.


• Do not play peek-a-boo (at least so loudly) with all the passengers behind you.


• Do not shriek in excitement so that it actually pierces the eardrums.


• Do not run up-and-down the aisles.


• Do not jump on your seat.


• Do not kick the seat in front of you.


• Do not crawl under the seat in front of you or behind you.


• Do not raise and lower your window shade more than 20 times.


• You do not actually have to say ‘hello’ to every passenger on the plane.


• Listen to your parents!

Alex and mom have been logging miles on airplanes for two years together now. Any hopes of it becoming any easier seem to be far, far off in the horizon. I’ve determined its best to never make eye contact with passengers around me, and to offer appreciation at the very end of the flight for the patience of those closest. While, the nearest exist row may be behind us, it’s never close enough.

New Years in North Carolina

After Santa made his stop on Christmas Eve, Alex hustled onto to North Carolina to wrap up the end of 2007 in Charlotte. As one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, Charlotte is a great for children of all ages. Alex took it easy visiting family, looking for after Christmas deals at the Mall and strolling in local parks. But, for a 2 year old, it can’t get much better than that.

The Charlotte Nature Museum sits next to Freedom Park, around a large pond, it’s a great spot to walk your dog or chase your kid -- but maybe it’s not so easy to do both at the same time. At the Nature Museum there are lots of activities for the little ones to learn about trees, plants and animals native to the region. One of the highlights is the Butterfly Pavillion where many different species fly free and you can enjoy searching them out in the flowers and plants. If you really take the time to look, you’ll see dozens at once. The museum is also home to different breeds of turtles, snakes and even a few small mammals. There are weekly puppet shows to teach the children about conservation. And, for the wild wanderers, you can check out the gopher holes can crawl through holes and tubes that, at least for me, were as small as the real thing.

Alex made it home just in time to ring in the New Year in his own home, with dreams of where he’ll be flying off to next.

Santa Claus is Coming to San Francisco

When does something you do become a tradition? After you do it the once, twice? Or, must you spend a life time doing the same thing year-after-year before it is forever a part of who you are? Closing in on 2-years-old, Alex’s Christmas tradition takes him to San Francisco.

With mom’s sleigh (aka Ford Escape) loaded with presents, and the California I-5 Freeway clear, the six hour journey north from Los Angeles couldn’t have gone smoother this year if Rudolph himself was guiding the way. There are a few good tricks to handling a child who has to be strapped into a car seat that restricts him like a straight jacket. First, bring good music. But, leave U2 at home. Do You Know the Muffin Man or Where is Thumbkin can get you half-way through the state; you can Skip to My Lou the rest of the way. Second, prepare to stop -- and then climb and crawl. Congress should pass a law that requires every fast food restaurant along any interstate to put up an indoor Play Land with red, yellow and blue tube tunnels and curling slides. Finally, remember…there is an end to every road trip -- eventually.

San Francisco is a city that glows throughout the year, but at Christmastime the city also glistens with twinkling lights. You can lose your heart on Cable cars, at the Golden Gate, strolling at the Fisherman’s Wharf or twisting down the famous turns of the elegant Lombard Street Hill. And, of course, a few dozen cousins and aunt Fifi’s special recipes are also a part of the holiday cheer.

As the Christmas traditions of my childhood have faded away, Alex’s traditions are just beginning. As Alex’s journeys may take him far from home for the holidays, the good news is that Santa can find good little boys everywhere. Alex tops the list!

Blistering, Blustering Cold in Baltimore

There are lots of fun things for tiny-tots to do in Baltimore. The National Aquarium in Baltimore, Port Discovery Children's Museum, and the Maryland Science Center are all within walking distance in downtown Baltimore's beautifully restored Inner Harbor, one of America's oldest seaports. Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit any of these places. With blistering winds whipping the cold air around outside and finger tips frosting, we had hoped to burn up some kinetic energy by playing with the stingrays. Apparently, every other parent in Baltimore had the same idea and by noon on Sunday in early December all events had sold out for day. If you didn't have a ticket, there was no reason to stand in the long line just to get in. With little other choice, we skipped the downtown, cruised the campus at the University of Maryland instead and were lucky to visit family and friends.

Before little Alex was born, trips East, West and across the Atlantic were a lot more frequent and a lot less challenging. There was a time when I lived in Los Angeles, maintained a room in New York City and flew the coasts roundtrip weekly. Now it requires an tectonic shift in order negotiate such a move. If your the last flight into DC-Dulles after midnight, make sure you don't miss the people movers that take you from the outer terminals to the main terminal. We got stranded at 1am and had to call security for a special service. It took an hour. (I'm not sure what the airport does if there is a genuine emergency.) By the time we got to baggage claim, the luggage was locked. It turns out Dollar Rent-A-Car isn't open 24 hours despite it postings. Hertz will charge you three times as much, but the GPS won't necessarily include the address you have to get to. The toll lanes only accept coins (which, of course, we didn't have) and the hotel wouldn't let us check in because the room wasn't registered in the right name. Meanwhile, the roads coated with ice.....but all in a day of travels for jetsetter Alex, who took it all in stride.

As for advice? Try not to cry and next time, we'll try Baltimore in the spring time.

High Tech Toys for High Tech Kids

If you want to be the hip, high tech mom this Christmas, then skip the trikes, trains, and treehouses. Go for the gadgets. But beware -- if its not the real thing, you won't fool the kid.

The New York Times reports (November 29) that For Toddlers, Toy of Choice is High Tech: "Cellphones, laptops, digital cameras and MP3 music players are among the hottest gift items this year. For preschoolers. Toy makers and retailers are filling shelves with new tech devices for children ages 3 and up, and sometimes even down. They say they are catering to junior consumers who want to emulate their parents and are not satisfied with fake gadgets."

My own little junior consumer loves all the gizmos; cell phones, laptops, cameras, and anything that flashes, blinks, blips, clicks or has buttons can entertain for ...well, let's be honest....minutes. But, he knows the only phones worth talking on are the real ones that actually work. Mom's computer has more buttons than any other device in the house. And, the camera captures every moment. Anything less than the real deal just isn't fun.

(Un)Lucky for us, in our neighborhood Toys R Us and Best Buy are side-by-side. A trip to either can send all your child's sensories into overload. All the buzzes, jingles, jangles, and bling can make you spin. This year, Alex will celebrate Christmas the good ole' fashion way...you know, like back in the 20th century with traditional gifts like Hot Wheels, Thomas the Train and a very first tricycle. Even jetsetting moms and their traveling kids need to turn off the blackberry now and then. I'll wait til he's at least 2-years-old before I paralyze him with his first play station.

The Thanksgiving Open

The table was set, the family was there, the turkey was stuffed....and then the tennis ball was lobbed into the air. It recoiled off the glasses and richocetted off the salad, then it sliced across the plate and landed with a plop. As the family circled the table with giving thanks and counting blessing, it was the bounce of the ball that made Alex's Thanksgiving Day complete.

But, as the family rallied around the food and Alex carved the ball down the table, I knew that I was the one that had already hit the ultimate Grandslam: Alex, Family, Home and Love. In tennis, love means nothing; in life, love means everything.

With another year of matches won and lost, here's a tip for any holiday....don't mix your long stem glassware where with your toddler -- something will break.