Southwest Airlines

Back in October my parents decided that they were going to buy us plane tickets to visit them in Oregon for Christmas.

I was super excited and J and I talked at length on what the best timing was for us to go. Unfortunately, the "best" timing involved me flying both ways with three kids. By myself. 

I was terrified.

We gave my mom our preferred dates and times and she bought the plane tickets through Southwest.

I have flown Southwest several times but never with kids. I have also flown several times with kids, sometimes by myself, but never with all three. 

Hulk has flown on more planes in six years than most adults have flown in their entire lives. 

He's a pro.

We got to the airport an hour before boarding was supposed to begin. We had an early flight so I was no worried about getting through security because at that hour there was not going to be a lot of people at the airport. I did have one bag to check, a carseat, and I needed to tell them I had a child in arms.

In the past, for children under two years of age all I have had to do was tell the people who print the boarding passes that I have a "child-in-arms" and they will print me a new boarding pass with "child-in-arms" printed on the boarding pass. 

I am confident. I have done this before. I know what I am doing. My only fears are a child wondering off or crying on the airplane. 

I have got this.

I walk up to ticket counter and inform the lady that I want to check a bag, a carseat, and I have a child in arms. I then hand her my driver's license and the boarding passes that I had printed at home when confirming my flight the day before. 

She says thanks and then asks for Baby #3's birth certificate. 

And my world stops. 

His birth certificate? He's three months old! He doesn't have teeth! He can't even sit up on his own!

Seriously?! 

Well, I don't have it. What are my options?

She asks if I have his vaccination records - any official document that will have his name and birth date. Apparently this is something that I am supposed to pull up on my phone through my pediatrician's website. I was not able to despite desperately trying. 

She then informs me that I can buy a last minute ticket for Baby #3 and after I get his birth certificate fax the certificate and the ticket information to Southwest to be reimbursed but that she needs proof of his age as it is part of Southwest's protocol. 

I declare this is ridiculous as I have never had to do this before.

She asks if I have ever flown on Southwest with kids before.

I tell her that I am going to call my husband and leave the counter to go cry in a corner. Literally.

And keep in mind I have Baby #3 in a carrier on my front, Little Viking Girl in a carrier on my back, a diaper bag, a carseat, a large suitcase, and Hulk. We are a mass of chaos. 

Fortunately J picks up his phone. This is a miracle in itself as is phone is often silent and he doesn't notice calls are coming in. And he was driving to work without his bluetooth so he was focusing on driving and not his phone (like a responsible driver, unlike me).

I explain the situation and he immediately gets onto I75 north towards our house. 

Waiting for J to text me

 It took him 20 minutes from the time I called him for him to get home. He then spent about five minutes looking for Baby #3's birth certificate.
He couldn't find it (he was able to find it later).
I spent this time checking Southwest's protocol on traveling with children under two years. Their website does not say that a birth certificate is required, only suggested to confirm the child's age.

J did find that cutesy certificate that hospitals make with the baby's footprints and he texts me a picture of it.
I go up to the ticket counter and show the lady the text and ask her if she will accept it.
She replies that she doesn't like it but she will accept it but on my return flight I need to have the actual birth certificate.
At this point I don't care what she likes because I only have half an hour before boarding to get three kids through security and to our gate.
We make it to our gate 15 minutes before it closes but people are still boarding. A person working the gate notices me and my kids and lets me cut the line so that we'll be able to get seats together without forcing someone out of their seat (Southwest doesn't have pre-assigned seats).
Bless that person.

Made it!

Our first flight was just over an hour long. The amount of time to get to cruising altitude, a flight attendant to bring a drink, and then to start the descent. Not enough time for my kids to become board. It was great.

Our layover at Midway was only an hour - which is the perfect amount of time for a layover. It's enough time to go to the bathroom and walk the mile and a half to your next gate without frantically running through the airport. And you have time left over to sit and relax with your legs stretched out before having to board.

Hulk and Little Viking Girl enjoyed snacks, watching the planes taxi, and getting some of their energy out.

Layover at Midway 

Our second flight was over four hours long. The kids did get board but I plied them with books and coloring material. About an hour in I told Little Viking Girl she needed to take a nap and fortunately she didn't fight me too much. I suggested to Hulk that he take a nap as well as he had not gotten much sleep the night before. He told me he didn't want to so I suggested that he just put his head in my lap. That did the trick ;)
Baby #3 also fell asleep during this time so I had three sleeping kids on me.
Unfortunately I could not get any sleep in this position.

Flight #2

I am continuously impressed by my kids. I am so grateful that they travel well.

I am grateful that we are in Oregon for Christmas :)

I maintain that the people at CVG's ticket desk are absolutely ridiculous.