You will not go quietly into the night...

Travelling with a toddler, you won't go quietly into the night. This I learned on our first long haul flight with Louloute.  11pm, a crowded departure lounge, our cherubic child perched precariously on the back of an elderly woman's seat as she performed her own rendition of Humpty Dumpty.  (Yes, we were the parents of 'that' child but allowing Louloute to tear up the airport was worth the scathing looks from some, she was asleep before take off and didn't wake until lights on seven hours later)

And it's not just the noise factor.  Travelling with a blue eyed babe in many Middle Eastern and Asian countries has got to be the quickest way to make friends.

Case Point 1. On a two day stop over in Abu Dhabi, ingeniously booked for the middle of June, we abandoned our 7am excursion to the park as the mercury oozed past 44 degrees and headed to the roof top pool.  Where we found ourselves swimming with some local, maybe, businessmen and their, ahem, colleagues? The men were rich and fat, the women's make up sliding from their skin as they swam in their (see through) underwear.  Honestly, they were very friendly and very determined to hold my baby (the fact that they were smoking was the least of my worries). Fortunately Louloute was having none of it so we could only smile and shrug (all the while silently thanking our distrustful daughter) and everyone parted on the best of terms.

Case Point 2.  Shortly after arriving for a six month stint in Kuala Lumpur, an early morning play in the park turned into an impromptu paparazzi session as Louloute, innocently swinging away, was suddenly surrounded by a gaggle of school children chattering excitedly as their cameras clicked, immortalising our two year old's chunky thighs and cheeky smile.  This was the first of many photo shoots and Louloute came to enjoy her minor celebrity status, striking up friendships with supermarket cashiers and scoring her weight in kinder surprises.  I'm (not really) ashamed to say that we used this overt interest in our child to our advantage wherever we could; as soon as she could hail a taxi, we rarely had to wait for one, passport queues were occasionally skipped and then there was the free chocolate.

Yes, travelling with a toddler is noisy, it's often exhausting and usually means that four hour stroll through the Musee d'Orsay will need to wait a few more years, however it's not without its benefits.
And I would trade a quiet night for a passing friendship with a friendly local (and yes, a handful of chocolate) anytime.