My kids never leave home without their digital buddies “Dan TDM” and “Superwoman”. That means a lot of preparation before flying. Read on to meet their friends and what we need to ensure a peaceful flight!
Who are these travel buddies?
The first is Superwoman. When you google her, you won’t get the DC Comics one, but the new youtube phenomenon my daughter loves. She is a 27 year old Sikh-Canadian lady names Lilly Singh, going by the screen name of “Superwoman”. Her spoofs on the life of Indians in the west and young people in the new world of Facebook, snapchat and Instagram are hilarious.
Superwoman
The second is DanTDM, the ID used by the this Englishman in his early 20’s when playing Minecraft. Its a computer game that involves building forts, castles. The game happens to be so educative that some schools have Minecraft classes and I have actually seen my son learning new things from it. Mr Dan also plays other computer games.
Dan TDM
Digital preparation before flying with Kids
- Carry iPads (or other tablets), and phones.
- Ensure they are charged before we leave home.
- Carry chargers, specially for longer flights.
- Headphones, so the the noise does not disturb other passengers, and you!
- If you have 2 or more kids, they may want to watch the same thing, so you have to keep the device that enables this. I bought this at Doha airport and my kids call it magic, they love it so much.
- Keeping all of this in your carry on luggage. God forbid if you miss out on one of these!
Let them carry their own stuff!
Before take-off
- Invariably this stuff will be in their own carry on luggage, so you need to take it out before security screening.
- Once on board, they will want to use the devices, so you will need to keep them with you before you place your hand luggage in the overhead lockers.
Safety on-board
Its always a challenge to get them to switch off devices during take off and landing. Nowadays the newer planes have replaced the no smoking sign (don’t know why its there now as most don’t allow smoking), by the device sign.
On planes where Wifi is available, I wonder what really has changed from the days when it wasn’t and phones had to be off or on airplane mode.
To Wifi or not to Wifi?
The unanimous kids response is YES. I agree as well, though am not in favour of voice calls (thats for another post).
In Conclusion
My kids probably stare at a screen much more than we would like. Anywhere and everywhere, we must have a fully charged iPad to entertain them. Their obsession with electronics is great when I want to sleep. However, when I want to spend time with them, the iPad wins!
Travelling with kids has always been different. With the digital world, its more so. Preparing for it is hence even tougher the before. Getting it right is key, for peace of mind and safety!
What has been your experience? I would love to know how do you get your kids to behave well!
