Flying solo with 2 under 5s

Seb was glued to the tv screen.

Sophie learnt what candy was and wanted more!


Tip No. 1 - keep them caged as much as possible

Tip No. 2 - give them candy and treats and whatever they want as long as they please stay in the seat/go to bed on time/ be quiet (or at least quieter), etc.

Tip No 3 - pack too many (way too many) diapers. As I found out, hotels know that they have you over a barrel and proceed to whip you. Sophie has/d diarrhea; I packed just enough nappies for the journey. But when that was extended by a day, I was getting desperate. Price of taxi to nearest 7/11 - $50. No thanks. So I stuffed Seb's night-time undies with a face cloth (terry cloth nappy, right?) and held my nose as I shelled out $11.50 for 2 - yes TWO - disposables. Some how, we made do with those.

Seeking some advice: how many candies or cookies are too many in a day? I mean, usually, it maxes out at 2 "bis", as we call them, in the afternoon and no or maybe 1 candy/day (though M threw that to the wind by introducing 1 tic tac for every time Seb emptied his bladder in the toilet and not his undies - but that's another post).

But when you are 4 1/2 and are got up at 6:45 and jump in a taxi (for 90 mins... - thank goodness the bladder was strong that time), struggle through lines and security, run to your plane b/c it turns out that you have to be bused the aircraft, are on the tarmac for 90 mins..., then fly across the Atlantic for 7 hours and 13 mins (that countdown clock they now have can lead me to desperation), then find our (heavy) bags) and struggle through US immigration (b/c the only route we could get back was via Newark...), then line up for customer service b/c we have missed our connecting flight, then take Air Train to a shuttle bus (that takes 45 mins to come), check in to the less than grand Newark Holiday Inn, and eat some mediocre pizza before curling up and falling asleep on the restaurant's booster seat, are 28 Jelly Tots and 12 tic tacs too many? I say not.