Too Busy to Haggle with Airlines about Kids Seating

I've written a number of times about the hassles of air travel. When traveling on business, I am usually traveling alone and it's a pain. But, traveling as a family, as many do during the holidays, is a real pain.

When I book flights for my family, I always take special care to note I have two children and they need to be seated with with either my husband or me. Is this too much to ask? Apparently so because when I show up at the airport, it never fails that the seats have been switched and we are spread all over the plane, leaving us to beg flight attendants or other passengers to find a willing seat switcher.

Apparently, I am not the only one. This morning on twitter, a woman tweeted that "USAir wants extra $50 to guarantee our small kids sit next to us. Hope the guy next to my screaming 18 month old enjoys his flight." To which I replied "thanks for sharing! Will keep in mind for next trip. Either that or keep asking flight attendants to take supplies to kids." Her reply back can be a help to any mom traveling with kids "@toobusytoshop My plan is to just dunk kids hands in marshmallow fluff and see how fast the folks next to them will trade out. :) (see http://twitter.com/toobusytoshop).

Wonder if you can buy marshmallow fluff in the airport?

Multi-Minding Moms Will Love Oscar the Pig

Of all the things that busy, multi-minding women juggle, going back to work has to be among THE most stressful. The transition is difficult for mom, dad and kids. Now, Oscar the Pig is here to help. Little Oscar, his mommy and his nanny tell a story that makes everyone more comfortable when mommy leaves to go to work, or in my case, leaves to travel on business.



"Read it again, mommy," is the reaction I got from my five year-old daughter. Nothing warms a mother's heart more than hearing her child laugh and my daughter giggled out loud every time I read the line "piggy kisses."



Written by Megan Calhoun, a multi-minding mom herself and founder of twitter moms http://www.twittermoms.com/, the text is cute and cleverly-written and accompanied with beautiful illustrations. http://www.twittermoms.com/extensions/otp_images/oscar_and_mommy.jpg



If you are multi-minding mom who is going back to work, if you have a child who struggles with you leaving to go to work or to travel, Oscar the pig will help. The book is available at Amazon.com ($16-$18) or at http://www.oscarthepig.com/.