Lifestyle

The weather has turned warm, a long weekend awaits and I can’t help but fantasize about exotic summer travel.

Those fantasies do not include airports.

The logistics and cost of air travel can be the worst part of a family trip. And, this summer, traveling with children is looking to be even more expensive and hassle-filled.

The Associated Press is reporting that base fares are expected to average $431 this summer or 3 percent higher than last year. That doesn’t count the likelihood of extra fees, including new ones that may be essential for families to pay.

(Associated Press) First, more and more airlines are allowing passengers to pay extra to reserve certain seats. These tend to be seats with more legroom or on the aisle or by the window.

That means on a crowded flight, a family might have the choice of sitting railroad style in a series of middle seats, or pay extra — in the range of $25 per seat, one way — for the luxury of sitting beside one another.

Tuesday, Maryland’s Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law legislation that didn’t get much attention but may be considered, among many parents of allergic children, a long overdue regulation.

The new law requires schools to establish policies regarding the use and availability of epinephrine, an emergency treatment for allergic reactions.

Its passage is part of a larger movement to recognize the growing danger that allergies pose to children, one that got a tragic jolt earlier this year from a little Virginia girl who died after sharing a snack with a friend in the schoolyard.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell with Laura Pendleton, whose daughter died at school of an allergic reaction to peanuts, at the signing of “Amarria’s Law.” (Michaele White)

Seven-year-old Amarria Johnson reacted immediately to the peanut she ate at her Chesterfield County elementary school in January. She sought help from school officials, who aided her but had no epinephrine or EpiPen injector, when she stopped breathing.

Amarria’s mother, Laura Pendleton, has said she had previously alerted the school to her daughter’s allergies, but the school didn’t stock an EpiPen, which might have saved the girl.

Last month, Virginia passed a law requiring schools to keep EpiPen on hand — legislation called “Amarria’s Law.”

Food allergies have been on the rise across the country and advocates have warned that tragedies like Amarria’s death are an increasing danger.

What is gender?

This is a question I didn’t think much of until about six years ago, when I awaited a sonogram technician’s explanation of what she was tracking on a blurry screen. Girl or boy? It was suddenly a very big question.

Ever since, as I have tried to guide my daughters through the rocky path of gender stereotypes, it has been on my mind, especially in recent days.
Five-year-old Tyler, known until last fall as Kathryn. (Nikki Kahn - THE WASHINGTON POST)

The Post’s Petula Dvorak has this week written a series of moving columns about a 5-year-old-child, Tyler, who was not comfortable as a girl. After much angst and much research, Tyler’s parents made two difficult decisions.

The first, to allow their child to identify as a boy.

The second, to go public with their story. (Dvorak has not used the family’s full names.)

The reactions have poured in, to Dvorak and to The Post. Some readers have been critical, many have been supportive. Many have shared similar stories. This is new territory for many readers, though it seems as if Tyler’s story has given a voice to a struggle that parents have been wrestling with for years, even generations.

An interesting coincidence: This week a transgender woman was crowned Miss Congeniality at the Miss Universe Canada pageant.

“I think we are seeing a sea change in our understanding of gender nonconformity and gender in general, and with this sea change comes a new openness to making room for children of all gender identities and presentations,” Diane Ehrensaft wrote me when I asked of her reaction to Tyler’s story.

Now, yet more evidence that children’s health is in dire need of attention: A new study released today shows that almost a quarter of teens have diabetes or prediabetes.

Almost a quarter.

That’s up from 9 percent a decade ago, according to a study in the June 2012 issue of Pediatrics, published online today.

The findings come from a report that looked more broadly at the risk factors teens have for cardiovascular disease. “Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among U.S. Adolescents, 1999-2008” examined data from nearly 3,400 adolescents age 12 to 19 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The authors, affiliated with The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, set out to examine why American teens have become more susceptible to cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death among U.S. adults.

They found little significant change in the last decade for teen rates of hypertension or abnormal cholesterol. There was also little change in the percentage of overweight and obese teens, but at 34 percent that figure remains troubling.

It was the spike in diabetes and prediabetes that stood out.

There’s only one thing worse than getting stuck on a flight with a screaming baby and that’s being the parent of said baby, in charge of keeping him or her quiet and happy. The stakes feel even higher after the March news story of the toddler who threw a tantrum and got her family of four kicked off a JetBlue flight.  
The Eric Carle firefly is easy to pack and has lots of colorful features for a baby to explore. (Rachel Saslow)

Making sure your baby is fed and rested is the best way to keep the peace, but bringing some toys on board will help, too. Airplane toys have some special restrictions: They can’t be bulky or heavy because they have to fit in the diaper bag. Balls don’t work because they’ll roll down the aisle in two seconds and you’ll never see them again. They also can’t be super noisy and annoying. You don’t want to make your seatmates listen to a computerized voice say, “Amarrillo…yellow! Verde…green!” from takeoff to landing.

 I’ve flown cross-country with my daughter three times so far. The trips have ranged from nightmarish (she had an upset stomach from D.C. to Oregon. I’ll leave it at that.) to pretty easy. As the mother of a 9-month-old, I don’t pretend to know what would entertain older children, so I’m sticking to infant toys.

Here are a few suggestions for keeping your baby happy and entertained during the next flight, which for many of us will be soon as Memorial Day weekend and summer vacation quickly approaches.