After about 24 hours of connecting flights (Singapore to Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Dallas) and much waiting, we're finally home. Praise God. Thank you for your prayers of intervention.
For the most part, I hate traveling, so much so that I told Roberta in LA that I would be willing to settle down there just so we wouldn't have to take another flight. Of course if it was just Roberta and I, things wouldn't be so bad. Payton did sleep for about 9 hours of the 12 hour HK to LA leg but it's the other 3 hours that's the problem. Being stuck in a cramped space with an active 15 month old with very few available activities (even Payton has a limit on peep a boo, reading the same two books, and scribbling) is not too fun.
There was a point in the flight that I thought I would lose my mind. We manage to appease the great wrath of Payton to a large degree on the previous trips by having him sleep on the floor in front of us (thankfully, Roberta managed to secure bulkhead seating on just about all our flights). We would lay down blankets and pillows as barriers and Payton was happy (so we were happy). At the beginning of the HK to LA trip, we were speaking with a flight attendant about how Payton would not fit into their bassinet (we tried and he looked like he was in a cramped coffin) and how he could just sleep on the floor like all the other times. Well, we were disappointedly informed that it was against safety protocols (this is the same carrier we have been flying). Several hours into the trip, we put him down anyways and he slept down there for several hours. Then an attendant came by and told us he couldn't sleep on the floor because he might fly up and hit the ceiling in case of turbulence. This didn't make sense to me (I'll explain shortly). At this point, Payton was VERY grouchy. We tried to get him to sleep on our laps in every conceivable position. NOT HAPPY. At this point, my patience was wearing very thin...my sanctification was under threat. I finally got up with Payton and walked over to the flight attendant's area. I stood there for a while, trying to get Payton calm (and myself) then asked to speak to a supervisor. I explained that my child was miserable because he wanted to sleep and would not sleep unless lying down flat. Then I explained that their policy didn't make sense to me (not to mentioned inconsistently enforced, if such a policy existed); if he was a bit smaller, he could sleep in the bassinet (a small basket tethered down with two straps on a foldable table attached to a bulkhead) and even if he could, he would be in the same predicament in case of turbulence. You see, while the basket was tethered down, there is nothing securing the child in the bassinet so if anything, the child is closer to the ceiling. Payton was just at an awkward age where he was too big for what they could provide and to sleep in our arms for 10 hours but too small to sleep in a chair like bigger boys.
The manager didn't have a good response but to his credit, he looked for an alternative solution. They asked some guy in another section to move so that we could have three consecutive seats and have Payton lying down on the middle seat between us (more dangerous since again he was not strapped down and could easily roll off the seat). Well, after some complaining, Payton fell asleep.
As Roberta quipped, we can now empathize with all parents of crying babies on planes. With that, Roberta declared her intent never to fly with Payton again.
Apart from all the drama, I'm glad Payton was able to go with us to experience something new, even though he probably won't remember any of it. More than that, having Payton there gave us a more accurate representation of the difficulty of living in that region with a toddler, since things are more cramped, less convenient, and not as child-friendly. Above all, we are grateful to God for sustaining us (particularly king Payton) throughout this difficult but helpful trip, for allowing us to see things and spend time with such wonderful people, and for just making it work.
With that, here's the highlight of Payton's trip--the Singapore Zoo:
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