I am attempting the autopsy of my journey to NYC while nursing a hideous chocolate egg hang-over, so excuse any oversights or omissions. I have a sugar high and the creature invading my uterus is going bananas.
In a nutshell, the trip was fantastic. I created an itinerary packed with amazing activities all done at a reasonable pace for little girls and women who are eight-months pregnant. Do not plan a trip to NYC with your kids without e-mailing me for my tips. But, like any adventure there were lessons to be learned around every corner. Here are my few:
1) Leaving daddy-o at home? Bring a note!
The nice Customs Officer at the Toronto airport asked for a note. It suddenly occurred to me that there were actually TWO notes I should have had on hand – one from my doctor giving the OK to travel, and the other from daddy-o giving my permission to leave the country with his children. Of course, I had neither. I strategically held my carry-on bag over my baby guts, so figured I was going to have to do some quick thinking and fast talking about leaving the country with my girls. Although it is 2009, apparently Customs Officers expect mothers and children to have the same last name. Luckily when naming the children I predicted future travel issues so gave them all my last name as a middle name. Phew. I pointed that out to the Customs Officer who re-checked the passports and let us through. I would suggest that same last name or not, when traveling solo with the kiddos, have a note on hand to avoid any complications.
2) There is crap on the streets of NYC that kids will pick up and covet!
Every time I turned around, my six-year-old was playing with something shiny or putting a new barrette in her hair. Inevitably when asked the question, the response was “I found it on the street”. For any of you germ-phobia mamas, keep the hand sanitizer close by – the appeal of shiny things outweighed any concerns about the origins of street objects.
3) Don’t be so cocky as to think you are too smart, too feminist, too enlightened, too Canadian or too cheap to be able to visit the American Girl store and not buy as stupid doll.
Or in my case, two stupid dolls. Little girls transform into high pressure manipulation experts. I’m now convinced that if determined, my girls could convince the Pope to start doing lines of coke. Incidentally, a cocaine habit is likely less expensive than an American Girl habit.
I suppose the biggest lesson is that if you leave a three-year-old daughter at home, expect to catch some grief upon your return – especially if you neglect to bring home one of the stupid dolls for her. Don’t assume she’s too young to be clued into what went down. I’ll be paying the price for that one for a long time.
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Poor J! When I read that you took the big ones shopping I wondered if in big families the ‘how come I didn’t get what she got?’ applies as strictly as it did in the two girl family I grew up in….apparently so! (Maybe why my mom still to this day is known to give gift certificates at Christmas for $37.54 in order to equalize the amount spent on each kid!)
Smart thinking on the last names. Customs officers have been known to ask me why I’m travelling with a child who has nothing that identifies him as mine besides my eyes! The note definitely comes in handy.
I think I’ll have to keep myself away from the American Girl store for a long time…no way I could survive that with my girls!
Sounds like a fun trip Julie (if not a little crazy!)
Thanks for the pointers!
(Would a note from Daddy-O really help? Couldn’t anyone write a note saying that they were the father and it was OK?)
Well, I looked into it….yes, a note from daddy-o is suggested! I thought the same thing…anyone could scribble down permission on a piece of paper. So, not all that effective I would think but definately a must have.
Lesley – yes, considering you have three little ladies as well, my advice would be STEER CLEAR!!!
What lucky girls…they will have lifetime memories of this trip. Good for you for making it happen!
i know Air Canada has a template to follow for the letter. an informal one is okay (as long as it has Dad’s contact info so they could call him to verify) but the template is detailed, needs the baby’s flight number and passport number etc. i suppose if you met a really uptight customs officer they might want the works.
that is good to know carrie….i wonder if my mama travel blogger friends know about this…..i’ll check out if there is a link somewhere.
http://www.voyage.gc.ca//preparation_information/consent-letter_lettre-consentement-eng.asp
when you search Air Canada it directs you to the Canada Foreign Affairs website and offers a sample model consent letter
you rock carrie! thx!
Hi, good post. I have been pondering this topic,so thanks for sharing. I’ll certainly be subscribing to your blog.