I can cross "See the sun rise in Detroit" off my bucket list.
Our flight home from Phoenix was supposed to leave at 11:25 AM Friday. Weather delays pushed us until 3PM. Blake was so good. Delta brought us snacks and then even ordered pizza. Imagine how happy Blake was when he heard pizza was coming. Then we boarded and were told we had another 45 minute delay. Stuck in the plane entertaining Blake for 45 minutes that don't even count towards our 5 hours?! No. This is bad. Apologies to everyone around us. I'm sure some people wanted to kill us but the woman sitting next to us was the sweetest. I don't know how we got so lucky. She told us to relax, everything would be fine. She talked to Blake and played games with him. When he was overtired and trying to fall asleep he was kicking everywhere. She told us not to worry. He could kick her all day as long as he was comfortable. I mean, who says that?! Someone who has been there. A mom. The woman in front of us was equally nice and told us that she remembers being stressed when her kids would cry on planes. She said not to stress about her because if we needed a break she would take him. Don't get me wrong--shameful head hanging was still in full effect two hours in. While those people were super supportive, no one really wants to listen to a baby scream for 2 hours. There was nothing we could do. Blake wants to walk around and will accept nothing less. He finally fell asleep and we would have landed soon. Circling JFK waiting to land turned into re-routing us to DETROIT. I'm trying to be positive so on the bright side, I think everyone forgot how much Blake screamed when they realized we were flying to Detroit. Landing in Detroit=worse than Blake screams. Blake wasn't ashamed. He proudly stood up on my lap and screamed so the whole plane could see him. I kept trying to tell him that he shouldn't show his face but he didn't seem to care. At one point I went to the bathroom and I could hear him in the back of the plane. We were seated directly in the middle so you can only imagine that the entire plane heard him.
When the announcement came I think I cried a little. They first told us we were circling because JFK was TOO CROWDED for us. Great. Ok it's fine. Blake is sleeping. Too much time goes by and another announcement: JFK can't accommodate us. We will be landing in Detroit. WHAT?! No. No no no no no. Flight crew doesn't know anything but thinks we will be taking off again at 1AM. We land. Announcement 3: our flight will take off at 7AM TOMORROW. Get off the plane, all hotels are booked, not a single place is open in the airport. I ask where I'm supposed to get food. I'm told, "I don't know." You don't know?! My one year old needs to eat. I've given him everything I had because we were delayed and you make it very hard to carry things on to begin with. As a matter of fact, I had a full pat down just to bring milk on the plane. I'm fine with that but no, I didn't pack 24 hours worth of food. I don't have food for my baby. Where can I get food?!? "Ma'am don't yell at me." I lost it. He threatened to call security. I told him to please do so because maybe I would get food for my child. I was just standing there crying and feeling helpless and not being able to do anything for my baby and feeling like a bad mom for not packing enough even though I packed extra and I just wanted to crawl in a hole. Everyone came running with food and milk and kind words. I'm so thankful for nice people. Blake is thankful that another kind baby gave him a pouch. It was even organic...don't get used to that, Blake.
Fast forward and I'm sitting on the floor of a little area we have claimed as ours. Blake's crib is set up, we've made a fort with the million Delta blankets we took, and my phone is plugged into the wall in the Delta Terminal of the Detroit Airport because the only thing worse than being stuck there is being stuck there with a dead phone. It's 2:30 AM and Blake is running around being his usual silly self. I can't have Blake awake all night. The thought of how long it would take to get him back on schedule is horrifying. At 3AM I put him in the stroller and start walking the mile long terminal. I walk and walk and walk. He is asleep surprisingly in a few minutes. Now I'm wired and the terminal is so quiet. I enjoy the walk. I register 10,000 steps on my Fitbit before 4AM and Blake is fast asleep. I give myself a pat on the back and think I'm awesome for my 4 mile walk, and go to sleep for 45 minutes.
Worth mentioning, the Detroit airport has a Spanx store. Is there anything more random? Souvenir shop, McDonald's, Starbucks, ohhhh PF CHANGS...where were you at 1AM?!? Oh yea, and Spanx! Like, I'm going on vacation I think I have everything but, wait, I forgot my Spanx! Is this a common thing people forget to pack? Do you just need Spanx more after being re-routed and eating nothing but Rice Krispies treats, Oreos, and chips that Delta provides followed by a sausage egg and cheese biscuit from McDonalds when it finally opens at 5AM?
Here's the thing. It could be so much worse. We had nowhere to be. We don't have work for months. We just got back from a really great trip to Arizona. Some people had their vacations ruined. We lost a night of sleep. I am the world's biggest pessimist, but I've been trying to be better. And on the bright side, that weird night just may have solved the time change for Blake super quickly. Now we can just laugh and move on. If the worst thing that happened was spending 8 hours in the Detroit Airport, I think we have a pretty good life.
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