Nightmare flight

A few days ago we returned from a lovely trip to Greece. On the flight back my toddler decided to have a meltdown of epic proportions.

She had fallen asleep and I thought she would sleep the entirety of the 4 hour flight but being strapped in to my seat belt attachment must have been uncomfortable for her and she woke up after around 2 hours. I tried to rock her back to sleep but she was struggling to get free and crying. I took her out and to the front part of the plane where the plane staff is. She calmed down after a while and i took her back to the seat. She was playing and coloring but then something set her off and she started crying uncontrollably. She refused to let me hold her or take the pacifier and was just screaming her lungs out. I took her to the front part again and tried to calm her down by singing to her. Finally when my husband showed her some videos of our trip she stopped crying. Soon it was time for the descent and we were instructed to go back to our seats. Of course she hated being strapped in again and screamed the whole time all the way to immigration. Immigration took one hour and getting our luggage another hour so i took the kids to one side and sat down. She was quite happy coloring and playing. We reached home at 2am and now Zoya had no plans to sleep. I fed her a snack, put on some music, read bedtime stories to her. She finally slept at 330am. It took us a few days to get her sleeping pattern in order but now she’s back to normal.

In hindsight, I think she was just exhausted. We did 4 flights in 6 days and even though the flights were short they are still exhausting especially for a child. And she was especially cranky because her night sleep was interrupted. She usually sleeps 11 to 12 hours straight. I think we should wait a couple of years before we undertake another trip again.

Too old to be a new mom??

I read a woman’s post on a forum where she had said that people had told her that at 37 she would be too old to care for her new baby. What kind of a person would say such a thing? And that too to a 37 year old pregnant woman?

I had my daughter when I was 40 years old and if someone had said something like that to me I would have given them a piece of my mind! People should mind their own business and if they can only say hurtful things, they should just keep quiet.

Having said that there are days that I feel too old to run after my toddler. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I’m 42 now, im sure even a 20 year old would feel the same way at times. Toddlers have the stamina to wear you out and everyone knows that. But I don’t have a choice. Whether I’m tired or not I’m the person responsible for taking care of her and I’m the one she will look to in times of need. The best thing I can do is to keep myself fit and healthy so I can do my job well. And that’s what every mother should be doing regardless of her age.

Its also important that I keep myself happy and take out time to do things for myself. Usually when my daughter naps I spend the time quilling (my new hobby). It makes me happy doing it and when I’m done I can appreciate the new piece I’ve created.

An interesting fact about my family is that my mom was also 40 when I was born. If she could do it, so can I!