A really awkward and embarrassing story that I can't help but share because seriously, it was so embarrassing

(Ella being really happy because she can explore and doesn't have to sit still)

As you may have noticed, we have been on quite a few plane rides recently, which is fun, but also kind of terrifying when it involves a little girl who cannot sit still to save her life. 

Some of the rides were awesome and just a couple of them were not so awesome, but yesterday we had the the ultimate not so awesome plane ride and I am here to tell you about it.

I flew home from Oregon by myself with Ella because Adam had to stay home and work (sad!) so I was feeling a little bit stressed and tense, just praying, as usual, for Ella to be well behaved or the people on the plane to be very forgiving.

As we were taking off, Ella was getting all fidgety and frustrated being held in my lap so when the seatbelt light went off I placed her in the aisle so that she could move around.

On previous flights we had asked the stewardesses if it would be okay for Ella to be in the aisle, assuring them that she would be kept close to our seat and we would pick her up as soon as anyone needed to pass by, and to our happy surprise, they were totally okay with that.

This was a good thing, because by allowing her to move around in the aisle, they were sparing the entire plane from enduring a several hour screaming fest, which seemed to benefit all parties on the plane.

So, assuming that these stewardesses would feel the same way about allowing Ella to sit by my seat in the aisle, I put her down, which immediately quieted Ella.

I sighed with relief that she was happy and the people sitting around us seemed to enjoy watching her.

The next thing I knew, a stewardess came up and said in the unkindest of voices she could possibly muster, 

"You NEED to take your baby out of the aisle. That is just NOT okay." 

I picked up Ella, completely understanding that it made sense that the stewardess didn't like having her there, but it was the tone of voice of that lady that made me lose it.

I burst into tears.

Yeah, like huge tears were positively streaming down my face.

You guys, it was so embarrassing!

I don't even know how that made me cry, sure she had a mean tone of voice, but really? Tears?

I think the stress from traveling with Ella just reached a breaking point because as soon as that lady said that I felt so completely alone.

I picked up Ella and sure enough she immediately began screaming and writhing and throwing toys and going crazy because she could not move around.

You guys, I seriously cried like majority of the plane ride home, it was so ridiculous!

And I wasn't like audibly crying, but if you looked over at me you would see ridiculously huge tears streaming down my face.

I don't even know.

And I would think to myself, 

"Think about happy things! 

Make lists in your head. 

Think about awful things. 

Think about how this can be an awkward story you can put on your blog.

Anything!

 Just make yourself stop crying!" 

And I would get the tears under control and then Ella would start screaming and I would burst into tears again. 

Or the lady next to me, who was seriously like an angel sent down to help me on this plane ride because she was so nice, would say something really nice to me, like, 

"It's okay. Everyone understands that sometimes kids are just like that. 

And if they don't understand then that's just too bad for them," and I would burst into tears again thinking about how nice she was. 

The angel lady was so nice, she even made attempts to make me feel better by telling me how mean that stewardess was, "That stewardess has a problem. She was so rude to me when I got on the plane too," which I had witnessed, so I knew it was true, and that was comforting to know that the stewardess was probably just having a really bad day, which was why she was using a nasty tone of voice with everyone. 

But also, the lady next to me was pregnant and she hadn't burst into tears when the stewardess was rude to her, and yet here I was, the one in tears, using Ella's sheep burp rag to try to keep the streams of mascara on my face under control.

All the poor people stuck around me.
There I was, stuck in my seat, bawling my silly eyes out with a baby who was also bawling her eyes out and all the poor people near by were stuck there, wondering what on earth was the matter with me to cry over such a silly thing. 

The lady across from me kept looking at me with a concerned expression and I just tried not to meet her eyes because I mean seriously, there had to be something wrong with me with how many tears were pouring out of my face. 

Oh my gosh.

But then the people around me decided that they would help to keep Ella in a good mood, so the people in front of us would play peek-a-boo with her over their seats and the angel lady next to me found all sorts of things for Ella to play with and Ella was loving it and giggling away.

You guys, there are such nice people in this world!

There are some mean ones, but usually that's just because they're having a bad day or a bad decade.

You totally realize the kindness of strangers in situations like that, let me tell you.

So THAT was embarrassing. 

But hopefully I got enough tears out on that plane that I won't cry again for long long time, and when I do break down again, my goal is to not have it be in public.

Anyway, there's absolutely zero point to that awkward story.
But when you have a blog, why not share all your embarrassing moments in all their awkward glory?
The end.