Strollerderby : flight

Parenting 101: Changing a Baby's Diaper On an Airplane

Kate Tuttle — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:29:00 GMT

Traveling this holiday season? Worried you'll get one of those planes with no changing table in the lavatory? Just in time for your diapering-while-flying conundrum, here are some sites with useful tips for dealing with junior's dirty dipe while crusing at 30,000 feet.

From MSNBC's travel writer comes an assortment of ideas from parents who, it turns out, were writing to complain about an earlier column in which she declared all in-air diapering verboten. She graciously issued a mea culpa and shared her column with the experts: parents who have actually flown with little ones. Best information: which planes have changing tables (nearly all widebodied planes, like the Boeing 767 and 777 and Airbus 300). Most pointless factoid: changing a table in an airplane lavatory without a changing table is damn hard work. Most disgusting etiquette "don't": Gary, an airline employee, says he's seen parents change their baby on the tray tables, using all three in the row to stretch out the baby's body. As he points out, these trays are not typically cleaned between flights so, um, that's a good reason right there to bring your wipes even if you don't plan to change the baby.

Another site offers some handy tips, including the a-ha idea of timing any seat- or floor-based diaper change to the bathroom visits your seatmates make. If you finish up quickly, they won't even know you changed your baby within inches of where they're sitting. Another tip? Waving around a diaper wipe to use as an on-the-fly air freshener.

Mostly, the expert advice is the same as what any parent could come up with: try for the biggest plane you can possibly book (any semi-nervous flyer already does this), slap on a fresh diaper at the airport, just before boarding, and hope for the best. Of the 40+ separate flights I've taken so far with my two-year old, he's only had a poo blowout once, and that was on a plane that featured a changing table (yay!) but on a day I had neglected to pack extra pants (boo!). It's all, if you'll pardon the expression, a crapshoot. Got any tips of your own for dealing with diapers while flying? Share them in the comments section!

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Kid's Balloon Travels Nine Hundred Miles

JeanneSager — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:58:00 GMT

When a Swedish couple hiking in the woods near Lapland found a balloon, they could hae just snagged it as trash and chucked it away. Instead, they read the message attached and decided to post a letter to the children's center in Britian from whence it came.

The children's center just happens to be more than one thousand five hundred kilometers (about nine hundred thirty miles) away. And since children released one hundred balloons in November 2007, this is the first letter sent back to let the kids know how their little floating friends fared.

The balloons were released in honor of opening day at the Old Clee Children's Centre in Grimsby, Lincolnshire on Nov. 17, 2007. It wasn't until Oct. 26 of this year that the Swedish couple were out in the mountains and found it. They sent a letter back to Old Clee with a little story about the sunny day when they discovered the balloon and included pictures of its whereabouts. In exchange, a Swedish-speaking employee of Old Clee has drafted a letter back, including pictures of Grimsby.

It's a sweet little story, but I always wonder what happens to the rest of the balloons in these circumstances. Do they snag on trees and litter the landscape? Or do people pick them up, notice the notes and trash them anyway? Neither one is really palatable if you think about it. I'd hate to think that the environment suffers, but disappointed kids don't make me any happier. What would you do? Do you think most people would send a letter back?

Image/Source: The Local

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The Dark Knight -- parents strongly cautioned (to go see it)

Brett Singer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Let's get one thing out of the way right now – you shouldn't bring your children. They might want to go, but unless they have a very high tolerance for a long movie (2 and half hours) and an abnormally high tolerance for what might be the most frightening performance ever (Heath Ledger's Joker), I'd get a sitter.

Now: this is some incredible movie. At first, I was a little bit apprehensive. Part of that feeling was the hype, which was so intense that it seemed impossible anything could live up to it. (Part of it was also that the movie didn't start until almost 1am because we had to sit through 7 commercials, none of which I remember at all – money well spent, advertisers. But I digress.) There are some slow spots, especially in the beginning, and I think the director, Christopher Nolan, could have cut 10 or 15 minutes of film and made it a tighter movie. But that's nitpicking, because there are several scenes, some just quick moments and some long, exciting action sequences, that will put your jaw on the floor.

The saddest thing about Heath Ledger's death is that his daughter will never know her father. But it's fair to say that if an actor had to go out with one performance, this is that performance. He's so good that I completely forgot I was watching an actor, which, for me, almost never happens. (It's worth pointing out that Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, do the same thing in smaller and less flashy roles.) He's frightening, but not the way a horror movie villain is frightening. It's not shock value, although there is some of that (there's a bit with a pencil that might be the best 5-second description of a character in the history of cinema.) Without giving anything away, The Joker is referred to as a "terrorist" a couple of times, but unlike the terrorists in our world, this one has no cause that he fights for. He's just… mad. Not angry-mad, just flat out crazy. And Ledger captures that in every possible way. You could teach an acting class using this movie – what he does physically, vocally, emotionally; it's all stunning to watch.

The rest of it is, for the most part, equally good. I don't care about the love story, but it's fine I suppose and does serve the story. Aaron Eckhart is a solid actor and he does a good job as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent. Christian Bale is by far the best Batman yet, although Ledger is so good that he really takes over the movie. Michael Caine is a good Alfred Pennyworth, Maggie Gyllenhaal is fine as token love interest Rachel Dawes; she's more than that, I guess, but it's not her movie. Gary Oldman is amazing; as in "Batman Begins," he somehow manages to completely capture the essence of a fictional comic book character that isn't a superhero, meaning that, as an actor, he has fewer details available to work with. I can't explain it but he IS Jim Gordon.

The nits to pick if you want to go there: some of the dialog is hokey (although the lines written for Ledger are brilliant.) There are a few slow spots. At times the action sequences are a tad frenetic, here and there. But it really doesn't matter. You'll read a lot about the surprising depth of this movie, and this is true to an extent. "The Dark Knight" is incredibly entertaining and does have some thoughtful moments amid the comic-book chaos, but there's no need to over think them. I would say just relax and enjoy it, but it's not a relaxing experience. Ledger's Joker is uncomfortable to watch, but in a good way. I don't want to give anything away, so you'll have to see it for yourself (but, as I said, get your tickets early; even the 12:30am showing was completely sold out.)

Now, despite the fact that there isn't much in the way of blood, this is not a film that you should take your children to see. Obviously, you know your offspring better than I, so if you think they can handle it, that's your call. And of course older kids will be fine. I hesitate to suggest an age-range, but I recommend seeing it yourself first if you're not sure. Worst-case scenario – you get to see it twice. Believe me, that's not a bad thing.

image: Reuters

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Batman: get your tickets now

Brett Singer — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:42:00 GMT

So, being a guy who sees superhero movies, I wanted to see the new Batman movie. Today.

A friend wanted to come with me, so I couldn't pull my usual "go during the day when it's not busy" thing. So OK, let's see when its playing… What? Sold out? You gotta be kidding me.

Well, I'm not. If you're planning on seeing The Dark Knight this weekend, you'd better get your tickets in advance. This is unbelievably annoying. I tried at 2pm to get tickets to a 10:30pm showing, and it was already sold out. The reviews so far are over the top in their praise. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, a site that aggregates reviews from various sources, the rating is a whopping 94% positive (the only film with a higher rating is Wall-E.). If you go to the "top critics" section (print outlets and sites like salon.com), only a couple of the reviews are negative, which is extremely unusual for a comic book flick.

A lot of the interest in this film is because of Heath Ledger's death, but I've never seen anything like this. A movie that you can't get tickets to unless you go at midnight, which is what I'm doing? Come on. (And yes, I know I'm nuts.)

I'll let you know what I think of the film, and whether or not it's appropriate for children, later tonight. But for now, if you plan on going, order those tickets early, Bat-fans. Otherwise, you ain't getting in.

See you tonight -- different Bat-time, same Bat-channel...

image: Rotten Tomatoes

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