Flyin' Solo

I'm not afraid to travel by myself with a kid.  One kid.  Two is too much for me.  But I have flown with alone with Marco twice and just experienced my first time with Jonas over the weekend.  I was so sad I didn't take Marco, but I couldn't imagine myself on the plane battling two small children.  So, I  had to choose the one that I still feed, and that's why Jonas was our lucky winner!

On Friday, I flew with Jonas to Punta Gorda, FL to visit my family.  It was my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, and to celebrate they renewed their vows and there was a reception to follow.  It was truly a lovely event.

Mauricio and I have become experts at packing and flying with kids.  You see, the airline we fly is extreemly cheap... Allegiant Air.  I'm talking $30 flights (each way) cheap.  HOWEVER, they will charge you for everything else... and I do mean everything!  A seat assignment costs $10, water costs $2, and a carry-on bag costs $30!  I wouldn't be surprised if they charged you 50 cents per ply of toilet paper!  So, we've learned to carry book bags and STUFF everything we need in them.

As you can see from my picture, I have everything I need with me.  Minus the car seat, which I had to check (amazingly, for free!)  Baby in front, luggage in back... that's how I roll.

Well, when I used to fly solo with Marco, TSA would let me go through security with him strapped to my chest, no problem.  Apparently, now it's a problem.  Even though the Moby Wrap is completely made of cotton and has no metal pieces, this is no longer acceptable.

On the way to FL, they gave me the option.  I had to either take him out of the wrap to walk through security OR have the dreaded pat down and not take him out.  Here was my dilema... if I took him out, I'd have to re-tie the wrap, but would have no one to hold him while I did this.  And, he was sleeping so peacefully, it broke my heart to have to bother him.  So believe it or not, I chose to be touched by TSA.

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I had a female TSA employee perform the feel up and when she reached my more personal spots, she used the back side of her hands.  Because the baby was on top of me, she was unable to reach my breasts (Thank You Jesus!).  When all was said and done, I didn't feel that violated and I was able to keep my baby in peace.

The way back was a whole different story.  The people at the Punta Gorda airport are jerks... flat out.  My options were, I could take him out of the wrap, undo the wrap to pass it through the scanner and walk through security, OR take him out of the wrap, undo to wrap to pass it through the scanner and have a pat down.  Uh, let me think about THAT for a second.  Why in God's green earth would I CHOOSE to be felt up by a total stranger if I'd have to take the baby out anyway?  So I unwrapped the baby, pissed him off, walked through the scanner and had a STRANGER hold him for me so that I could retie the thing.  What a stinkin' mission.

Moral of the story- next time I'm taking a stroller.