• I used to be like the people staring at a hapless mother with rowdy kid, now I'm her
Part Two
We arrived in Nairobi at 4am on a Sunday morning. Our flight was not until midnight that night. I had no option but to check into a hotel. Thankfully, we all slept soundly for a couple of hours.
The baby was taking it all like a champ! He was on the adventure of a lifetime, nothing could keep his spirits down.
The plan was to visit a couple of relatives in Nairobi to pass time. I looked at the city outline from my window. Nairoberry, Nairobae or Kanairofi… The names I would give to the city that hosted me for many years during my late teens and early twenties.
I looked out into the city skyline and felt a great wave of exhaustion just wash over my body. I had no energy to eat let alone mingle and chat with relatives. Every ounce of energy I had was reserved for the long journey ahead.
The day was spent in a blur of baby feeding, unpacking and repacking. By the time we made it to the airport, I was in full combat mode! Nobody is ever ready for the thousands of unexpected things that can happen to you while on transit. Big diaper blowouts in an airport terminal without a changing table, unsettled babies all around, long queues and watching time pass pass one second at a time.
My little curious George had tuned into the Flash. He zoomed in and out of tapped lines, kicked empty water bottles like they were soccer balls, fussed if you carried him and tore off in the opposite direction when you put him down. I could feel the looks of the other passengers on my back as I chased after him. I used to be like them. The judgment in their eyes, the looks of “Why can’t you control your baby”, and worse still, the occasional annoyed glance.
I was honestly too occupied with watching my kid and tending to his needs to care what people thought. All I wanted was to arrive at my destination. Everything else was purposely blurred out.
By the way, my baby is often in bed by 8.30pm by the latest, but during the days we travelled, he turned into a kid who did not understand the concept of time. There was no way he would be up at 9pm if we were at home.
Luckily, he slept through our first flight, even when I dropped him on the plane! Yes, mums, I dozed off and the kid just slid to the floor. I don't remember much of the first flight, but the transit in Dubai had us sitting on the cold floor, making cerelac with bottled water.
The second leg of the flight took place during the day, and I feared being unable to control my kid zipping through the aisles on the plane. Luckily, his interrupted sleep schedule meant he slept most of the second flight as well.
We zipped through time zones going forward then back in time. By the time we arrived at our destination, it was only midday, yet we had been travelling for days!