So, here’s a tip: Dora the Explorer, lollipops, and M&Ms are all Mommy’s best friends on a cross-country plane ride and 2-hour car trip.

I never thought I would bribe my children with candy or some sort of electronic viewing pleasure….until I attempted to travel by myself with a 3 1/2 year old and a (nearly) 16-month old, waking them up from their nice, warm beds at 4:30am, making it to the airport and barely getting all of our baggage onto a plane by 6:25am, flying from Los Angeles to Chicago, refereeing a minor lunchtime meltdown and fight over a stroller at Midway airport, and then sitting on a tarmac for 45 minutes…waiting to take the 32 minute flight to Detroit.  That is about the point I pulled out the M&Ms.

Yes, we are interested – we have even stopped screaming long enough to shove some sweet, sweet chocolate into our mouths.

And, thankfully, at this point we have taken off and reached the magical altitude when you can turn on approved electronic devices. So the laptop came out and both girls settled into a sugar-induced, Dora coma.  Addie even let herself fall asleep.

Success! Ah, Dora – Gracias from the bottom of mi corazon! I may not be winning any mother-of-the-year awards with my tactics, but it sure was a peaceful 29 minutes.