My girls took their maiden flight today…No- its not the first time they are flying…but the first time they are flying alone. Well, not alone…they have each other…and there are of course others on board the flight….but the first time they are flying without parental guidance! Maybe a small, insignificant achievement to some but for me as a mom, this was their first step alone in the real world…
We had booked them in Emirates so I was a lot less worried..and with what happened last week with the flight from Trivandrum, I was a lot more confident. Which airline is able to evacuate 300 people in 90 seconds? It has to be the best ! Albeit the criticism from some ignorant quarters on the nature of the passengers, type of aircraft etc…the truth was that all people had been saved which to me is the only thing that truly matters…the crew should be rewarded, the airline should be awarded…lots of movie writers most probably are writing a script right now ” 90 seconds”.

Coming back to my girls, the only concern was them being careless with their travel documents or wandering off or getting into a fight with each other ( which is not rare with girls😊)….and all the other little worries that we parents continue to have which probably translates to how little faith we have in their abilities ( at-least that’s how they see it and hate it). Added to that was managing all the questions from my dad who is protective to a fault…
All those worries came to an end as I saw them walk towards us, ear to ear smiles, eyes bright with a sense of achievement. Of course they spoke 19 to the dozen and together which made it all the more difficult to comprehend, on every little aspect which would seem like ‘This’ was their first flight. And… all the talk wasn’t about the technicalities of security check, baggage or immigration clearance or finding the gate. The younger one was all about the fruit platter she had requested for as her flight meal, that the apples were of the highest quality – “Del Monte” she said solemnly 😉and the cheese was delicious ( doesn’t matter if she doesn’t look at cheese otherwise and has to be coaxed into eating it at home😊) and the chocolate dip given with the melons and strawberries was yummy ( though at home the fruits can remain in the fridge until it rots and nobody cares) . The older one thrust her hand under my nose for me to smell..oh it was the lotion in the plane loo…it smelt so nice… Obviously they had had a good time😊
Fortunately or unfortunately they did not have to worry about anything else as the Emirates staff took complete responsibility until they were handed over to us- this, though we had not asked for assistance as they were over the age of 12 ( minors as per airline rules). Apparently their grand-mom ( from their dad’s side) had managed through her social network 😊to find somebody at the airport who could assist.

Sometimes as a parent, I guess you need to let go ( which is probably the most difficult thing), give the kids the opportunity so that they can prove to you and themselves that they can handle it …for faith in oneself is the most important gift we can give our children!
We can’t control our parents,who at one time did the same thing with us but at this stage in life seem unable to do the same with their grandchildren.

On the way home, the girls were saying, ” we should do this more often”. So there, the initial fears of trying out something was all gone😊…On my phone I got a message from my dad, ” don’t make this mistake again”…😔..Generation Gap I guess!!!😞