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We just got back from a short trip (3 day) to Chicago for my brother's wedding, and my husband and I feel like we just hung in for 10 rounds during a boxing match, rope a dope style.

Traveling with a toddler is not for the faint-hearted.

We didn't expect it to be easy, I mean, our road trips with the Jolester have not been easy or painless in any way, shape, or form. So, suffice it to say that we've been anticipating her first-ever flight with a certain amount of dread.

So, as if preparing for battle, we went into it equipped with a few weapons: Chewy snacks for takeoff and landing for ear pressure pain, our portable DVD player with headphones and a couple of new DVDs, crayons, and her choice of stuffed crib friend to be her travel companion.

It might have been smarter to check some of our luggage to free up some of our arms, but we were only going away for a couple of days and I'm also fairly paranoid that the airlines are going to lose my luggage- something I wasn't willing to do when our destination was a wedding and we carried our formal wear in our suitcases. Instead, we maxed out our 2 per person carry-on allowance, counting Jolie, and gate-checking our new lightweight cheap travel stroller.

Things seemed to be going well. Our flight, in the middle of the holiday weekend, was only 50% full. There was no one directly in front of Jolie. We were actually running ahead of schedule (a flying miracle).  And as we took off, we fed her gummy fish -- no tears -- this was a cinch!

Not long into the flight though, she started getting the ants-in-your-pants thing and we pulled out the DVD player in hopes that she would be able to not bounce up and down on the seats and trigger the oxygen masks to pop out of the ceiling.  Yet, we did not anticipate at all that she would reject the headphones entirely. Deflection! Rejection! No way are those things going on my ears! I guess she had never been introduced to the concept and not having seen this particular DVD before, she had no idea what it was supposed to sound like. (I guess we should have brought a familiar and loved DVD -- DOH.)

So, for the remainder of the flight, we dealt with a lot of squirming, juice-spilling, her typical I-can't-sit-still-for-ten-seconds song and dance and found ourselves saying quiet prayers as we pulled into the gate in Chicago a good half hour earlier than expected.

Luckily, on the return flight, Jolie both understood and tolerated the role of the headphones during a short movie-viewing period AND napped for a short while (sadly, the only 15 minutes she would nap that day), making time go much more quickly by.

All told, it wasn't as bad as we expected: no bathroom accidents, no barf bag usage, and we escaped with only minor mental injuries. But on a longer, cross-continental flight?  I would need to be medicated.

_{Disney Family does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Call your doctor regarding any medical condition. Never disregard your doctor's advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Disney Family site.}