The Puzzle Is Real

Planes, Stains & Automobiles

• Matt & Melissa Pisani • Season 1 • Episode 40

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Did someone say ROAD TRIP?! Matt and Melissa discuss the challenges and unexpected surprises when traveling with children. Be inspired and encouraged to keep pressing on.

www.mattandmelissapisani.com

@puzzleisreal

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Puzzle is Real podcast where we will be discussing faith, family, and Relationships hosted by Matt and Melissa Pisani. This is The Puzzle is Real podcast when you know, you know,

Speaker 2:

Here we go. We're back.

Speaker 3:

All right. We are here.

Speaker 2:

Let's talk about traveling with children.

Speaker 3:

Mm. The adventures. The story. Yes.

Speaker 2:

<laugh>. Oh, it's just, it's exactly the way that you planned it. It always goes the way you planned.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So you can tell a veteran parent from a newbie parent<laugh>,

Speaker 2:

And you learn from each other. I will open up this special edition of Family by talking about a man that I met on our first flight to Vegas with Mercy when she was just a little girl.

Speaker 3:

She was like 15 months old.

Speaker 2:

So we went to fly to see the family in Vegas. And this dad, he was really impressive. He was sitting next to me. We were in the back of the plane, shout out to JetBlue, and we were in the kiddie section. I mean, there were kids

Speaker 3:

Everywhere. We were in the kids. They put all the kids in families and like the back fee rows,

Speaker 2:

<laugh>. Yeah. And, and this guy was like, he was ready, like he had, this is before Covid. He had like the wipes to wipe everything down. He was prepared for anything that could possibly happen. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> for his kids, but also it was offering to us. I was like, wow, this is great. And um, I think there was a point where we were up in the air and not his kids, I don't think. No. But somebody else's kids in front of us just started throwing up.

Speaker 3:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

So the barf started flying. Kids were coughing.

Speaker 3:

Oh my gosh. It was gross. And there was a kid that was right in front of us that had just snot running down his face like, oh, hi, trying to talk to Mercy. And I'm like, I'm trying to keep her away from this kid who has like, snot just like oozing out of his nose.<laugh>. That was a wild experience.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I think that was like the beginning of us realizing like, wow, like traveling with a child. Like, man, there's a lot of things, you know, a lot of moving parts, but it was fun. Mercy didn't get sick. Yeah. And it was a, a really, uh, wild time. And, uh, yeah, we've just, ever since then, we've continued to travel with the kids and mm-hmm.<affirmative> endless stories of shenanigans and wild moments, unexpected twists and turns that make you laugh even when you're in it. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> and you just kind of just say, all right, well let's keep going. This is fun.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I mean, uh, there was one time, so Malachi was not feeling well and we were just driving around town. I think we were just,

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they were just doing some like family errands or something. Yeah,

Speaker 3:

We were just, we drove to like a different part. Um, I don't know, like 30 minutes outside of where we lived or where we live. Cuz this was here in South Carolina. Um, and Malachi all of a sudden just started throwing up in his car seat as we're driving. And I was like, oh no. I was like, Matt, pull over, pull over, pull over. So he pulls over, I like clean him up. So I'm like, oh my gosh, did he eat something bad? Is he not feeling well? So parents out there, you learn certain triggers and certain patterns of each kid when they are not feeling well. And unfortunately Malachi's thing that happens most times when he's not feeling well is he will throw up. So I did not know he wasn't feeling well yet. He just started having episodes. So we're driving, we pull over, I clean him up, we start driving again, he starts throwing up again. I'm like, oh my gosh, pull over again. So then I was like, all right, I'm just gonna sit in the back with him. We just need to get home. Because at this point he's covered. It's all over everything. Um, we, we literally, we just had to go home. So now it got to the point where, I know this is not safe,<laugh>, but I ended up, he was like screaming, crying. He was in just agony from just not feeling well and throwing up all over himself. So I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna take him out of his seat and I'm gonna hold him until we get home. Cause we were pretty close to home at that point. And so I was just like holding him. And then next thing you know, he's throwing up on me. I'm like, oh my gosh. I'm like taking off my clothes in the back of the truck. I literally am just wearing my, my pants and I think my bra and just covered in his throw up. So my<laugh>. So it's like now looking back, it's like just we have to be prepared for anything with our kids. You just never know when things are gonna happen. And thankfully we were not on an airplane, we were not far away from home. We were able to get home and get cleaned up. So that was just like a, a funny example. And thankfully he was, he was good after a few days, but throw is never fun. That's always the one that I'm like, ugh. I just, that's a tough one.

Speaker 2:

You gotta breathe through your mouth.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And then poor kid, he's like, was it the smoothie I drank<laugh>. Aw. It's like, oh

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I think it's like a, um, it's like a, I think a little bit of a fear that some people might have about traveling with kids or just being out and about. But we just want to encourage listeners that if you're not a parent yet, don't be intimidated by these stories. But just know that when it's your own kid, like you don't, you don't flinch it. Like, all right, whatever. I've got poop all over me and throw up and we'll figure it out. Yes, it's gross. But you um, you just kind of, you press on, I was thinking about mercy on a different traveling excursion when we were up in the air in a plane and she was, um, pretty much potty trained and she wanted to go potty. Oh yeah. Yeah. She was probably drinking and I had to go into the little plain bathroom with her. And

Speaker 3:

Because we had Malachi, he was a baby, so I was holding him.

Speaker 2:

She, yeah. And she wouldn't go. And she kept telling me she had, like, we kept going back, we must have went back to this little bathroom numerous times. Now you know how narrow and small these bathrooms are and then, you know, there's the unexpected bumps and changes and altitude and man, it was definitely trying. And um, again, you never know what's gonna happen with the little people when you're moving with them. So we're just encouraging everyone, pray for patience, be flexible and be prepared, but don't be overly prepared. I think some people take it to extremes where, you know, you gotta be like, also,

Speaker 3:

Well, you definitely wanna be prepared. Like you wanna have extra clothes, you wanna have the wipes, the diapers,

Speaker 2:

The

Speaker 3:

Wipes are good. Yeah. You know, um,

Speaker 2:

Extra poop bags, diaper bags.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Besides these like funny traveling stories, I think kids just teach us so much about ourselves too. And I know that since having kids, I've gotten more patient even though I'm still working on that, not perfect. Um, and just being able to just go with the flow. You know, not everything is gonna go according to how you think it's gonna go because now you're dealing with other personalities and other needs and other wants. So I think kids just humble you and, um, redirect you I think, in a lot of ways, in a good way. And yeah, it's just funny when things happen cause you're like, okay, here we go, here goes the roller coaster, but you get through it and um, you get to laugh about it after.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. There's, uh, there's a lot of funny things that come to mind and, um, for everyone out there, like, even if you're out at a store or I was at the post office months ago at Malachi Mercy and Malachi before potty training had a huge poopy diaper. Mm. And I was like, what is this gonna look like? And, you know, changing him in the parking lot in the truck, trying to like, you know, get all that figured out. It's always, it's humbling, you know, it's definitely humbling. So yeah, we just, we encourage everyone out there that has little kids or your kids are growing, you're laughing like, oh haha remember, you know, that we would just, um, look at these as great memories cuz they do go fast and just cherish the moments, especially within the traveling scenarios. Don't ever second guess it cuz you'll regret it if you don't go on these trips and you know,

Speaker 3:

Yeah. You gotta live your life and live your life. Things are gonna happen. You just have to be, um, flexible and, uh, free flowing because you just, kids are unexpected. You just don't know<laugh> what's next with them. You don't know if one's gonna get sick or one's, you know, fighting with one another or a blowout or whatever. But it is, uh, an exciting ride and I wouldn't treat it for anything else. And, uh, yeah, it's been a lot of fun.

Speaker 2:

And if your kids are road trip kids, that's a win.

Speaker 3:

Road trips are fun. Yeah. Figuring that out. It's like, all right, let's pick out the movies. I mean, when we were kids, we didn't have movies to watch. We didn't have, like, I didn't have all that stuff. Like,

Speaker 2:

You had a game boy if you were lucky.

Speaker 3:

We didn't even have that

Speaker 2:

Black and white game boy, the old school one because

Speaker 3:

There was four of us. So<laugh>, I remember my parents like, oh, let's look at the, let's find the colors outside of the window. Let's look at the different thing.

Speaker 2:

You know? Right. Like an eye spy type of thing,

Speaker 3:

Eye spy, like, it was all those sort of things. So I feel like our kids are just, they don't even realize how good they have it, you know, when you're traveling and Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Like you got, like, I know we don't have the tablets, but we have like the portable DVD thing that they can watch little shows and Yeah. Everyone's got their

Speaker 3:

Thing, other snacks and

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's, it's whatever works for you and your family. Obviously technology has evolved since the eighties and nineties, so I, there's a lot of options, but yeah, the road trips are always a good time. You break it up, you know, stop at some fun places. But yeah, as you're planning your spring and summer getaways, think about this and, uh, pray on it. For those of you that are like, man, I don't know, I don't know if I can go for it. We've been doing it. I mean, obviously can't always do it. We've got an infant right now, so, we'll yeah, we'll take a breather, but, uh, eventually get back on the roads and it's just, um, it's funny looking back at some of these pictures of, you know, random Waffle House or Cracker Barrel stops and just different things that you get to do and the kids, they uh, they eat it up. It's always fun to see, you know, whatever the case may be, whether it's a good day, a barf day, or, uh, you know, a middle of the road type scenario. It's always fun.

Speaker 3:

There's actually one, I'll end with this, one more story. So I was traveling with Mercy by myself, um, to Idaho, from New York to Idaho, and she was 18 months old. We were gonna visit my sister and we were at the airport. I think we were coming home at that point. Yeah, I think we were coming home and we still had some time after we checked in. Um, oh man, we, oh wait, there was two story<laugh>. Okay, I'll tell, okay, I'll tell you really quick. So, traveling by myself on the way there this happened, mercy was, you know, you have to take off your shoes to go through security. So we took off her shoes, they took off Mercy's shoes, and then at the end, um, we got everything. I'm pushing her in the car, in the, um, stroller. And then about, I don't know, a few minutes down, I, I looked down and I was like, oh my gosh, where's Mercy's shoe? Could not find her shoe. So I was like, I have to go back and get her shoes. She's walking. I don't have another pair of shoes with me. So I go back to security and a dad comes up to me and he's like, he's like, do you need something? And I said, I don't know where her shoe is. I said, it's, I think it's back past, um, where I went through security. And he's like, all right, you stay here. I'm gonna go look for the shoe. So he literally went, looked, found the shoe, brought it back to me, and he was like, I just wanna let you know that if you, like, if my wife, this would've happened to my wife, I would've, you know, I would've hoped someone would've done the same thing for her. So here, here you go. And gave me the shoe and I was like, oh my gosh. Thank God for just good people, good time, good Samaritan Padre. Yes, because I was like by myself with an 18 month old. So that was on the way there. On the way back, me and Mercy stop at a restaurant because we had some time, got a little snack before we got on the plane. And what did I do? I spilled a whole drink all over her. She was soaking wet. And now I'm like, oh my gosh, do I have another outfit with me?<laugh>. So she gave me this look like, oh mommy, I can't believe you just did that. And it was horrible. So thank God I had her pajamas still in my bag. Everything else was checked in, and I was able to put her in her pajamas,<laugh>, and we flew back home. But it's just, if I didn't have those pajamas, she would've had to fly naked. So be prepared. Always be flexible and enjoy the ride. See you soon. See you next time.

Speaker 1:

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