NZ: Being There with a Toddler

Did you have fun?

Yes. The whole trip was fabulous.

How did Cate do?

Well, since you [at least some of you] asked ...

Other than a couple tired breakdowns on the way there, Cate was excellent. She is somebody I would take on a trip across the world again. She ate well. She slept well. She entertained. And she liked seeing sheep.

She talked about planes being high in the sky most of our trip, especially whenever she saw one. And, well, she pretty much just talked. About everything.

Speaking of planes, once she got to sleep those couple times on the way there, she was fine. And on the way back, she slept [an estimated] seven hours of the 11 1/2-hour flight from Auckland to San Francisco. Then she napped the next morning for the majority of the four-hour flight from San Fran to Cincinnati. When she wasn't sleeping on the plane, she was probably snacking, watching Dora or Winnie the Pooh, coloring or reading books.

I should mention that while we were actually enjoying our time in New Zealand and not trying to get comfortable on a plane, Cate also was enjoying herself. Many times while we were there -- site-seeing, driving from one place to the next, eating, hanging out -- I appreciated my go-with-the-flow daughter who finds ways to develop new routines in new places.

She slept in our room on her own bed [except the two nights I let her cuddle with because she was scared of the wind] the whole time we were there. It worked well, but I didn't anticipate how it would affect her once we got home. She's mentioned wanting to sleep in our bed/room, but we've nixed that idea and reminded her that her own bed is fabulous. Both Cate and I have had a hard time falling asleep these couple of nights we've been home, but I'm sure we'll gradually get back in our our "normal" routine.

So, here's to no regrets to traveling with a toddler to the other side of the world.