Few days ago, I posted a thread asking for some recommendations of places to hit up when I flew to NY this weekend. This was a family vacation. I posted a thread last year about the ills of taking toddlers on extended trips:
https://www.thecoli.com/threads/taking-kids-on-vacation-is-the-fukking-worst.922480/
I gathered the tips from some of the parents on here so I could be more prepared. Only this time, we were flying to NY. Kids have never been on a plane. They are 3 and 4. Little boys. We were traveling to visit my wifes fam. Initially, I did not want to take the kids because I knew just from the trip to Disney last year that it was going to be a fukkING disaster. But I relented. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:39AM out of Hartsfield-Jackson airport in ATL. We left the crib at 7AM. I was mentally prepared or so I thought. Here is my story:
The entire drive, my eldest with all the questions. NONSTOP talking. He was excited and full of excitement.
daddy, where is the airplane?
are we there yet?
Are we in New York?
Is this New York?
I'm tired of this car
Can we get out?
I wanna get on the airplane now.
Every 5 minutes. I was prepared though. The drive was uneventful. Kids were anxious but pretty chill. Once we got to GA, we stopped for bathroom breaks and snacks. The drive was only like an 2.5hrs from Alabama to the airport with the one stop and minor traffic Accounting for GA time, we got there around 10:10AM. A little late for my liking. Here's where the fun started.
Its Friday, its Father's Day Weekend. The airport was a bloodbath. Traffic into the airport was moving at a snail's pace. Probably spent about 10 minutes driving into the actual fukking airport. Our gate was on the North side so we tried to find parking in the North Zone. It was all full to capacity, no parking spaces available. Cool, we drive around again and head to the South Zone. The sign showed there were spots available. We waited in the traffic. We got near the parking section and the sign switched from green to red. It was now full. Okay, a little annoyed. We drove around again and went to the West zone. This was the furthest out. There were many spots there obviously because it was the furthest from the airport. We hit the parking garage, unsettled and begin the journey to the airport. Its already about 11AM at this point. I tell the wife we gotta book it. I'm carrying all the luggage, she got the kids. We hustling.
It was a long fukking journey. With the heat, that walk felt like
From the parking garage, we went up one flight of stairs to reach the tram. Had to wait for that mf to get there. My son like he gotta pee. I'm like you better hold that shyt
Tram arrived, both my sons began to panic and try to run away from the tram. They were afraid of the loud sound. It was all unfamiliar to them. I was prepared for that. We drag them onto the tram. My oldest calmed down once he realized it was cool. My youngest was clutching his mother for life crying and whining. Whatever. From the tram, we get off and walked through this long aisle, and we hit an escalator. My kids began to panic again. They had never been on one. My wife had to pick up my youngest son because he refused to step onto it. My oldest was doing this little 2 step trying while crying trying to time his steps to get on the escalator. I had to pick his ass up and place him on the steps.
Next we hit an elevator and these are the ones with the outside view. They panicked once it started moving and when I tried to show them the outside view, they panicked even more.
fukk it. We make it to the airport. It's about 11:15. Kids can only walk so fast. We hauling ass. Flying through JetBlu. Big fukking mistake. But it was cheap. $1100 roundtrip for the 4 of us.
We get to the bag check in and the lady told us we're too late. She said you have to check in your bags 40 mins prior to departure. Flight was leaving at 11:39, plus we still had to go through TSA. She said there's no way you can make it in time. My wife almost broke down.
I'm like is there anything else you can do? She was like let me get my manager. A tall, bald breh with a Carribean accent comes out and explains the sitaution to me. So I'm like when's the next flight to NY? He said tomorrow. My heart sunk.
We find a seat to rest. My son is upset because he wants to get on the airplane. We didn't want to drive all the way back home and have to redo this whole thing again. It was too much. It would be pointless to only to stay in NY for a partial day only to leave early Sunday morning. fukk no.
and making him confront his fears. Can't no son of mine be outchea going out like that.
