“Flight 149 to Phoenix is now boarding passengers in Group A.  Group A is now boarding.”

I vaguely heard the announcement coming from the opposite side of the terminal as I tried to calm the cranky 6-monh old in my lap.

“Here, try this,” Danielle, my four year old niece, said, putting the pacifier into her little brother’s mouth. 

After a few moments of resistance, Max took pacifier and was happily sucking away and I was able to finally look up at the board for my flight information.  I sighed in relief.  We should be boarding within the next few minutes.

“Thank you, Dani.  You’re a miracle worker.”

“No problem, auntie.  I’m here to help.”  The impish little girl looked up at me with a smile that reminded me so much of her mother that my heart nearly skipped up a beat.  I bit my lip and looked away to blink back my tears.  It took a minute, but soon I was in control of my emotions once more and I looked down at the baby who was now sound asleep.

“Wow, what’s in this thing?  Bourbon?” I asked, tapping the colorful handle of the pacifier.

“What’s Bourbon?” Danielle asked.

I felt a moment of panic as it hit me again that I was just not ready for this responsibility.  I couldn’t answer her because I’m pretty sure Child Protective Services wouldn’t want me to be discussing alcoholic beverages with a four-year-old but then again, I hated adults who lied to kids or told them they’d know when they were older.  Being a kid was brutal enough without having people treat you like you were stupid.  So I decided to tell her the truth.

“Bourbon is a drink that relaxes people.”

“Oh.”

With that, she went back to her coloring and I sat back, happy in the knowledge that dealing with children wasn’t as hard as most people made it out to be.  This would be a snap.

“Passengers on flight 87 to Los Angeles, we will now begin boarding first class.  First class passengers only, please come, tickets in hand, to the attendant at the door.”

“Hi, can I get some help?  I’m in first class.”  Sitting very near to the door leading out to the plane, I nearly forgot about the sleeping baby in my lap as I scooted forward and raised my hand.  And as my luck would have it, I must have jolted the baby because suddenly he was awake and wailing.  “Shit.”