Sunday, February 24, 2013

There, And Back Again (Part III): There's No Place Like Home

A tired daddy, a grumpy daddy, and a happy baby finally make it home!
22+ hours of travel time and Saffy was, to quote a fellow traveller, "a gem."  She never cried at all during the two long flights: Delhi to London, the five hour layover, and finally London to Boston.  I was so worried about the baby during traveling, but the bigger issue is other people.  

This is what I think celebrities must have to deal with...people, people, people!
People at all three airports (officials and travelers alike) are either so self-absorbed as they bump into you holding a baby and not caring that they almost made you fall over and effectively crush your newborn; or they act as if they've never seen a f**king baby in their lives and lose their shit!  It was an endless barrage of people pointing, gawking, coming up to the baby and saying "is that a baby?" when they can fully-well see it is clearly a live baby.    Strangers often want to touch the baby's face and hands, or put their face into the baby's carrier.  They send their sick, coughing children over to the baby carrier to point and see.   "How old is it?"  "Is it a boy or a girl?"  "Where's the mother?"  "Why are you traveling?"  Groups of tourists from one side of the airport gravitate to the other side to see the baby and giggle, wanting to take pictures.  Toward the end of the trip, I had to cover her face and hide her away.

"Where's the mother?"
Really?  I've read it on other blogs, but really?  Who's business is this?  Why does this concern you? Why does anyone care about these strangers?  There is a weird difference in cultures.  Foreigners tell me how warm they think Americans are.  Americans, they say, will talk to you and give you eye contact and are warm and welcoming.  I don't know if I believe this, Americans seem to mind their own business.  Not that many Americans noticeably gawked at the baby, but the ones that did then quickly minded their own business.  Very few of them asked any questions, and when they did, they were satisfied that there are two dads.  "That's cool" was the common response and nothing more.  I think Americans tend to mind their own business in public.  I really believe I should tell these people a horrific lie that makes them feel awful for even asking, but then I would be further questioned and I don't think I have the energy at this point for improv.

To the officer at Logan:  you live in New England, it gets cold here you horse's ass!
Cold babies need to wear snowsuits when going into snowy weather.  You see, snow = cold baby and cold baby = negligent parent.  I was questioned (rather rudely) by security at the luggage carousel in Boston airport, because I was changing Saffy into her snowsuit (essentially a sleeved sack with a hood that you put over her clothes to keep her warm).  Since Logan airport sees fit to not put ANY restrooms on this level, nor any seating areas, I had no choice but to find a secluded corner (there was an unused desk there), and dress her.  She was never naked, no diaper changed; I simply added a layer of clothing.  He spoke to me like I was a drug smuggler or child molester, and I gave it right back to him.  I'm not sorry I laid into you, you should know better;  you're an idiot.

Home, Sweet Home:
We've been away for a month, and I'd almost forgotten what you looked like.  I'm tired (so, so tired!) because of travel sickness.  Traveling back in time; spending so much time in economy class, in a cramped seat; eating terrible airline/airport food; and a daughter that doesn't want to sleep, but get used to her new surroundings, climate, time zone, and pet-siblings...it definitely takes it's toll on you.  John, who hadn't slept in a 48-hour period, was a champ.  He can certainly deal with sleep deprivation much better than myself and has been taking such good care of feedings and changings.  I worked myself into further exhaustion by cleaning bottles and cleaning massive loads of laundry.  I've been dizzy since getting off the plane.

Delhi, we miss you!
Yes, even after a few hours, I miss you.  I wept on the plane as we lifted off.  You were our home for a month and the birthplace of our daughter.  You will always have a special place in our hearts.

Until we meet again, my friend.
Namaste!



6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on completing your journey, and welcome home!

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  2. Congratulations on making it HOME! I think that that number 1 piece of advice to IPs should be to pace yourself when you get home. I think we all set immediately to tasks of washing (everything!!!), cleaning, setting up baby's room, meeting and greeting and completely forget that we have just been through the most physically and emotionally exhausting journey of our life. Take care of yourself and your family and enjoy!

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  3. We always look forward to your update. Glad that the family is home safe and sound. Best wishes!

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  4. You guys crack me up. I felt the same way home with my kid. In Zuric I was asked where is the mother, I told the agent its really non of your buisness. Then he asked for a police officer to come over and then I laid into him telling him the same thing, then I showed him all my passports and stated unless you have a legal reason to stop me i am leaving, if so I will contact my embassy here and we can deal with this there. He let me go. When I got to Chicago no one cared, excpet the AWESOME flight crew at swiss air who ran all the way to baggage to return a pacifier, Which I thanked. I am glad you guys made it home safe. Now be prepaired for her having issues to get back in our time zone, LONG nights i have had with Isabella but slowly she is shifting her time zone to central standard time. Please stay in touch and If you guys want to come out to milwaukee let me know I can always come out to Boston have our girls say hi :) Take care and enjoy your new life.

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  5. Great news your home guys and little doll! I thought it was just us! W found people generally did not care about barging pushing harassing with two babies in hand! Babies screaming and people saying oh are there babies in there! In the end we had lost patience and ignored the stupid comments and pushed people away that got too close to them...unbelievable. Anyway home now....enjoy!

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