Killing Time in the Airport With Kids

Not so long ago, the weather and a certain airline conspired to trap me, my husband and our 2-year-old daughter in Reagan National Airport—outside Washington D.C.—for more than five hours, a good four hours longer than we anticipated.

I’ll spare you the part about how we sat on the tarmac for those additional four hours. Suffice to say we were already worn threadbare by this particular travel experience when we boarded the plane.

I’d done all my normal preparations for flying with Emmeline—I packed goodies in the form of new toys and snacks, loaded up on crayons, and fully charged my laptop so that we could find a quiet corner and watch the movie Finding Nemo.

By hour three in the airport, my Big Bag o’ Bribes (patent pending) was empty and my laptop battery was dead. My sanity had left the building, and we were letting our daughter lick the windows looking out over the jet way while she yelled, “Look, Mommy! I’m cleanin’ them!”

That’s when my guardian angel entered from stage left, in the form of a pretty teenager headed to Chicago for a performance with a national choir.

She spotted my girl from across the gate lounge just as I was considering ritualistic suicide.

“What’s her name?” this sweet vision asked. “Oh, she is so CUTE! Do you mind if I play with her? I just LOVE to babysit!”

I could swear I heard a heavenly chorus burst into song at precisely that moment.

 

• Long layovers and delays are headaches for travelers of all ages.

Paul and Sissy Schultz

Now, don’t get your knickers in a twist and call child and family services on me. Of course I didn’t hand my child over to a stranger. I sat nearby and watched as they sang silly songs and Emmeline pirouetted.

The key word in that sentence is “sat.” As in, did not move. As in, gathered the strength for the rest of the journey. And man, did we need it.

Air travel these days is tricky at best, even for adults traveling solo. If you are holding an airline ticket in your hot little hand right now, odds are good that you’ll be delayed at some point during your journey.

Toss in a handful of the Terrible Twos or the (God, I hope) Terrific Threes, and you, my friend, have what we like to call “a situation.”

Entertaining kids in the airport can be challenging for even the most talented, patient human being. But according to travel experts John Frenaye and Elisa Bernick, it can be accomplished with just a little forethought.

Find Family-Friendly Airports

A father of three based in Annapolis, Md., Frenaye is the founder of the online travel agency, Travels With Fred, as well as Single Parent Travel, a Web resource devoted to the growing number of single parents who travel the world with their children. In addition, he shares his wisdom in a bi-weekly travel column on MSNBC.com. [Full disclosure, Frenaye also is a contributor to TravelMuse.]

“People get so into checking out their destination and finding out what they are going to do when they get there,” says Frenaye. “Look up the airport, too, to see what it has to offer.”

Doh (smacks head)! That never, ever occurred to me. Me, who could be found rocking back and forth and muttering in a corner when my MacBook was in the shop for three VERY LONG DAYS.

But I don’t need Google anymore, because Frenaye saved me the trouble of doing an online search of the nation’s airports. [Read more about top family-friendly airports here.]

“Most airports have wonderful things for kids to see and do,” he says. “For instance, Baltimore/Washington International Airport has a great flight deck outside the security area, where you can go and sit and hear the [air traffic controllers], and watch the planes come in and out.”

Outside the security areas? I have to exit the gate area and re-enter security?

Yes, says Frenaye. When you know you’re in for the long haul, sometimes leaving the confining gate area is your best bet.

“It isn’t something you want to do when you’re going to be boarding the plane in 45 minutes,” he says, “but if you are going to be delayed for hours, you might want to consider it.”

Bernick concurs. As the author of The Family Sabbatical Handbook: The Budget Guide To Living Abroad With Your Family, she has seen the inside of many an airport. They are, she says, pretty interesting places if you take the time to explore.

“There are lots of windows to look out, airplanes taking off and landing, weird carts and trains to move you around (or avoid), moving walkways, lots of stores and restaurants to walk through,” says the Minneapolis–based writer. “You can actually get a pretty good workout by taking a long stroll from one terminal to another, and letting the kids race down a fairly empty concourse to get out their pent-up energy.”