With the exception of a short flight from Chicago to Columbus when my son was six months old, I've never flown with either of my two children.

Truthfully, the very thought of flying ANYWHERE with one or both of my kids causes me to break out in a nauseating sweat. We remain firmly hunkered down in the Midwest, a comfortable six hour drive from the grandparents in a minivan with a DVD player.

It's not that I don't want to take my kids anywhere. We're going to be in a position to take them on international trips or flights to Disney World--something my parents could never afford to do with us. And I genuinely look forward to vacationing as a family.

When they can carry their own luggage and don't need diaper changes in airport restrooms.

I used to be indifferent to children and babies on planes or in airports. They were cute, sure. They were sometimes annoying but in my travels to Europe or around the US, I never really thought about what it took for families to travel.

Until I had children.

Then I became a hyper aware mother.

Now when I travel without my kids, I wonder if missing them makes me more likely to smile and play peek-a-boo with an infant on an airplane. Whatever the reason, I tend to watch out for toddlers in busy airports--always looking to see if the parent is close enough for MY comfort. I'm always jumping up to offer a seat at a crowded gate or asking if I can help with a bag.

The last trip I made resulted in getting snowed in in Cleveland--which meant an additional two days away from my own kids (ages 2 & 4). So I seemed to see babies everywhere on every leg of my long journey home. The young, military couple with a toddler my son's age, pulling a wee, wheeled, Go! Diego, Go! carryon suitcase and the adorable six-month old baby girl in a flowered sleeper (which she promptly shat through while waiting for take off).

Then there was the family of SIX (four kids under 10, one handicapped and one under a year old). The oldest girl and boy were seated directly across the aisle from me. The father was strapping the handicapped boy into his special car seat and the mother was holding the infant. Their daughter couldn't figure out how to tighten her seatbelt across her lap and her parents were otherwise engaged. I flipped my seatbelt off, jumped up and showed her how to tighten the strap, receving a polite "thank you" from the child and a grateful smile from her mother.

I've never noticed anyone not helping parents out--or being rude or particularly surly about children travelling. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it happens--the incidents on the news where a family gets kicked off a plane because a three year old throws a fit or the baby needs to nurse certainly happen. But for every one of these well-publicizied events, there are a thousand tiny, friendly, helpful interactions across the globe as parents and non-parents alike try to coax a smile from a toddler in the seat next to them or even endure the wails of children who are not theirs in order to cut somebody else a break.

I just haven't been able to put myself (or my kids) to this test. Most likely, my own children will not see the inside of a commercial jet until they are at least six years old. Do I think we COULD fly if we had to? Probably. But then I see how badly they behave at the local McDonalds and think how horrible it would be to deal with a tantrum a thousand miles from home in a strange, crowded place with armed security guards.

Then I strap my kids into their car seats and gas up the van.

That's me up there! Sorry I screwed up my login.

Lisa - thank you so much for writing this.

I know what you mean, Lisa - before I had kids, I figured that the best answer was to not get involved. I would smile at travelling kids, but didn't want to interfere with the parents.

Then came the day I was standing in Frankfurt airport (with my son on my back)and a toddler went tearing by me, with a significant lead on her mother. I just reached down and stopped her, without thinking, and said nice things until her mother caught up.

It's weird how the instincts change.