The beginning

The original and first of my flying posts. This was originally seen on our family blog.

My decision is up in the air

I haven't been a very faithful blogger as of late, but oh well. As my husband would tell you I'm a dabbler, and blogging on our family was one of my dabbling experiments. Sometimes my dabbling experiments stick (ex. photography) and some not (mosaics plus many others). Anyways, that brings me to my latest dabbling experiment, flying. I guess it's kind of shocking that I haven't experimented with it yet especially since I've been with a pilot for 10 years, gasp! It really doesn't seem like that we've been together that long.

As a family we do our fair share of flying, and to say that Sullivan loves it would be an understatement. While I don't exactly share his same level of enthusiasm I do enjoy going along for the ride. After some discussion this fall Shane and I agreed it would be wise for me to take some very basic instruction as an extra precaution. I guess as a parent you become a little obsessed with your child's safety, and that was my main reasoning. Yes, I am the mother who despises play areas at fast food restaurants and the mall.

Fast forward a couple months and we find ourselves at the airport with child in tow. Shane, Sullivan, and I had a great little flight. Shane was able to teach me some basics, and as a bonus the lesson did not push us to the brink of divorce. Our perfect little angel was the cherry on top. Initially, I was worried about Shane teaching me but it went amazing! As someone who knows a few things about teaching I have to commend him on his abilities as an instructor. After that flight I was feeling pretty good about the decision we'd made!

A week later we decided to tempt fate and try it again. To say it was a bit of a nightmare was an understatement. We took a different airplane while it was the same model it was slightly different. And apparently the airplane and I didn't mesh real well. To make matters worse our son talked, sung, and at times screamed for 35 of the 45 min flight. At one point Shane pulled the cord on his mike and that just made him mad. I was very distracted and at odds with the plane which resulted in some snapping. Poor Shane bore the brunt of it. I did edit that part out of the movie we taped. I don't want Sullivan to see it someday. By the end of the flight I was exhausted and so was Sullivan. After all that he fell asleep right as we're ready to land. I was ready to write our little experiment off after all this.

Shane was not quite ready to give up and suggested we try again a couple days later sans Sullivan. We took the airplane that we took the very first time and I did ok. We had a great flight and I learned a lot. He even brought out his flight instructor voice for me. It was weird but I actually enjoyed the experience which thrilled Shane. I'm actually kind of excited to see what the next time brings.

Now I have to decide if my pilot's license is something I want to pursue or if I rather just dabble when we go flying as a fam. I've started a pro and con list. High on the pros is a sense of accomplishment, making my husband very proud, having a better appreciation for my husband's field, and being able to understand to an extent what he is talking about when he comes home at night. Most nights I just smile and nod because he might as well be speaking chinese to me. High on the cons is stressing our relationship, having to study (especially content that doesn't get really excite me), and having to talk on the radio (this goes back all the way to Shane and I's first flight together, but that's a story for another day).

So I guess it remains to be seen if the flying experiment sticks or not. Who knows maybe I could aspire to being the only female flight instructor in the state (I've been told female instructors are pretty rare).