This episode of Chit Chat will be a bit of a rambly one. What started as a unpleasant travel day, ended in a ‘No Show’. I started to write this post after we arrived in Tunis and can now write quite a bit more about what happened afterwards. More about that in part II.
15th of August at 4 AM
On a travel/show day where I have to wake up early I am always hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep during the flight or at the hotel upon arrival.
My wish came true, during my first flight from Stuttgart (6.50 - 8.00) to Düsseldorf I closed my eyes before we took off and woke up when hit the ground.
Our second flight to Tunisia would take approx 2.5 hours. Enough time to fall asleep and relax some more. I made sure that I would get a window seat, which means the least disturbance by other people around me.
Take off was supposed to be 12.00, which ended up being 13.30.
At first the two seats next to me were empty. For a moment it looked like no one was going to be seated next to me. The flights were you have a whole row to yourself, are like hitting the travel jackpot.
This was not the case for me. A young mother with two girls, one of them a 6-months-old baby, were sat down next to me.
The mother in me thought; ‘Ah, so cute’. The exhausted singer in me thought ‘There goes my second chance of getting some sleep’. Waking up at 4 AM and having a show at 11 PM is hard. Especially when you have a long travel day ahead leading towards the show.
I could see that the mother was exhausted. I felt sorry for her, I know what it is like to take care of a little one, let alone two children and no father around to help. Traveling by yourself is already stressful.
Before we took off, the plane was unbearably hot. The AC was not working yet, so I offered the fan that I always carry with me to the mother.
Soon after the bigger sister after broke it. Nothing a little super glue can’t fix.
I fell asleep for about 10 minutes and woke up, because the girl sitting next to me liked to kick me with her feet. Nothing new to me. I often get slapped in the face by Vincent’s hands and feet in the middle of the night.
The mother handed me the baby because she needed to use the restroom. I didn’t mind at all. I love babies. They are so adorable and still let you cuddle them. I would be a bit hesitant to give my baby to a complete stranger, but I guess me showing them that I was willing to help with little gestures, made her trust me.
I played a bit with the older girl so that the mother could sleep. This was also a bit for me, because the girl was so restless and wanted to play with her mother, who had her hands full with the baby.
When the plane was decending, the girl started crying because her ears were hurting from the pressure. I offered her a candy so she could release some of the presssure. Eating chewing gum is always a great trick to battle ear ache. Of course I first asked the mother for permission.
The girl already had some chocolate from her mother and ate a bit from the food that we got offered during the flight. I didn’t touch the food. I am a bit picky when it comes to airplane food.
When I turned around to close my eyes for a bit, the girl became suspiciously quiet and then started to puke all over herself and the chair. It was a bit like the scene from Team America. I offered to hold the baby so that the mother could help her older daughter. She didn’t have any wet towels with her. Lucky for her the mother in me carries a Mary Poppins hand bag filled with all the handy things you need when you have small children.
While we were landing, I held the baby and the girl because the mother untied her and I told her that is not a good idea when we are about to land.
Suddenly I was taking care of two little strangers. My mother instinct took over and I just couldn’t ingnore all that was happening next to me.
I hope that I have taken away a bit of the stress from the young mother, and while at it, I could hold a baby while missing me own.
To be continued
