My son is no stranger to airplanes. He’s flown to Shanghai, New York, Atlanta and this trip is actually his second time visiting Honolulu.  Despite all the previous travel, I still have an inner freak out session every time I fly with him. I can’t help it. The anxiety is no where near as bad as it used to be when he was a baby with crying and dirty diapers being at the top of my worry list while 30K feet in the air. These days, at 3.5 years old my main concern for a 5 hour flight is boredom.

Many of you know all too well the consequences of a bored toddler on an airplane. From spontaneous tantrums to kicking the seat of the unfortunate passenger in front of him to telling you he wants to go to the bathroom when the seat belt sign is still on and the plane is rocking and rolling from turbulence. Surprisingly, our 5 hour flight today from Los Angeles to Honolulu on Hawaiian Airlines went really well.

The Dollar Store Is My Best Friend

In my past, I’ve spent way too much money the day before a flight on stocking up at a toy store with books, toys and DVDs only to find my son go through all of it in the first two hours. This time around I took him to the dollar store and let him pick out a bunch of new coloring books, flashcards and puzzles that kept him pretty busy on the plane and cost me less than $15. I’m also lucky that he’s finally old enough to like toys that take up a good chunk of time. Puzzles come in especially handy. They eat up at least a half hour of time to put together. I bought a few of them.

Rent The Digital Media Player
Hawaiian Airlines offers rental of a digital media player for $15. I know that might sound like a lot, but it comes loaded with childrens TV shows, cartoons and movies as an option and also helped keep him occupied and happy with some new shows and movies he’d never seen before. For previous flights I remember spending twice as much or more on buying new DVDs for a portable DVD player that only lasted 2 hours before having the battery die. $15 was worth the price of keeping an easily bored toddler happy.

Hawaiian Airlines Feeds You

A meal was included with our flight. I know, kind of sad that it’s actually something worth highlighting these days since most airlines no longer offer food as part of the airfare. We were served a breakfast burrito that came with a chocolate muffin in an eco-friendly 100% recycled box. They also offer an option of “premium” meals as well for $10. For this flight it was either a greek salad or a chicken ceasar salad.

While we’re on the topic of food on the flight to Hawaii. I like that most flights to Hawaii offer guava juice as a choice of beverage. It’s one of those things I always order on my flights to Hawaii because I never really drink it at home.

Oh, and for all you eco-friendly fliers out there, yup – lunchbox was made of 100% recycled paper and they collect cans and plastic bottles separately from regular trash for recycling.

Little Boys Like Transformers. Buy Lots Of Little Ones.
My dad is awesome. He bought my son a bunch of little transformer toys for the trip. This proved to be a really good move in keeping him occupied on the plane. In addition to being an interactive toy that he spends lots of time “transforming” from car to robot and back to car – with a few broken off pieces along the way that need repair – it also helps that little boys at 3.5 years of age have great imaginations. It was fun watching him sit there for a good chunk of time making up little fight scenes with his transformers.

And there you have it. One happy toddler who’s excited to spend the week in Hawaii and a happy mom who feels like she’s finally starting to get the hang of things when traveling with him. Fingers crossed for the 4 inter-island flights and return flight back to LA. I’ll keep you posted.