Mr. and Mrs. Nielson Go To Washington

Tanner and I were curious to see how Clark would react to another plane ride for our trip to Washington this time around, since the last time he was on a plane he was 3 weeks old and wasn't really aware of what was going on. While waiting in the Norfolk airport, he quickly made friends and had fun looking out the window at the airplanes while we waited for our first flight to Minneapolis, MN.


We got on the plane and this is what happened:


A good start I would say.
But the fun really began when we arrived in Minneapolis. The airport had a fun little play area for kids, perfect for Clark AND Tanner!



Clark made more friends in Minneapolis while riding the moving walkway.


Clark crawled around greeting everyone before boarding, and as we boarded the plane and walked down the aisle, people smiled and waved at him. The plane was pretty full, and we were some of the last to get on. We approached our seats at 31A and 31B. A lady was sitting in aisle seat 31C and looked up at me as I stopped in front of her. I said nicely "We are in those two seats". A scowl came over her face and she said OUT LOUD one word ... anyone want to take a guess?? It's not like I was expecting a Yahoo! or a Wonderful! but what I got was a big fat "SUCK"! Yep, she said it out loud. This was a lady in her 40s or 50s and I finally understood why my mother always scolded me when I said that word, because at that moment, it really did seem like a swear word. I had that weird emotion suddenly well up inside me when I didn't know whether I was going to burst into tears or slap her. So I did nothing, and just quietly moved in next to the window. Tanner did not hear the comment, and I quickly apprised him of the "situation" once we were seated and I could mouth the words silently to him without her knowing.

I pause here to ask the question: Why is it that she can say SUCK out loud referring to me and my child being in her presence and yet, I had a problem with her hearing me tell the story to my husband. Go figure.

Anyway, back to my story. I told Tanner that Clark was probably getting hungry and I was going to feed him now before he got fussy. There was another lady who sat in front of us and she all of the sudden turned around and popped her head over the top of her seat and says "You know, the best time to feed a child is during takeoff because it REALLY can hurt their ears and they may get fussy". Did I ask for advice? I think Tanner and I looked at her a little stunned and Tanner finally said "We know, and he has a pacifier to help him with that". She turned around and sat down. I couldn't believe that of all the nice people who smiled and waved at us as we got on the plane, that we ended up sitting next to these ladies. Then I had the thought: maybe everyone was smiling and waving because we were passing them by on the plane and they were just happy we weren't sitting near them! I was starting to get really irritated, and I really wanted to keep Clark quiet NOT because I was worried about "Instyle magazine" lady on the end of our row but because I wanted to prove her wrong, my child was going to MAKE her love children! Just before takeoff, Clark started to play with the seatbelt buckle, and it was making a little clicking noise. He maybe did it five times, and Miss Information in front of us turned around and snarled at Tanner "Can you please stop that?" My hero of a husband looked back at her and said "He's 10 months old, he has to play with SOMETHING". She gave him a crusty and turned around. I looked at Tanner and rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe it. But ho and below, fifteen minutes into the flight, this is what happened:


... for the entire 3 hour flight. Clark woke up just before landing, and was Mr. Happy. He kept looking over at 31C and giving her big fat smiles. I was discreetly watching her to see if she would smile back. The first two times she looked at him and didn't do anything ... but then the third time she cracked a smile, and the final time, she busted out a wide smile. Miss Information commented on how quiet he was during the flight. He won them over, and I could not help but smile as we got off the plane.