Abidemi Jeremy

Quiz

1) He misses being able to _____ .

a) readb) sleepc) watch moviesd) do all of the above

2) His son was too _____ .

a) smallb) youngc) big

3) He _____ every moment of silence.

a) dreadedb) savoredc) lost

4) Who took two kids on the plane?

a) He did.b) Her sisterc) His wife

5) He advises people with babies to leave _____ .

a) earlyb) at middayc) late at night

Vocabulary

Those days are over

Because those days are over.

Here, the phrase 'those days areover' means a part of your life willnever happen again. Notice thefollowing:

1. I used to be a good athlete, but those days areover.

2. Before I got a job, I had lots of free time, butthose days are over.

bassinet

They have these bassinets thatyou’re allowed to put your child in.

A bassinet is a small bed for babies.Notice the following:

1. The baby is sleeping in thebassinet.

2. This is their first child so they need to buy abassinet.

take (the whole thing) apart

They had to take the whole thingapart

Here, take the whole thing apartmeans you dismantle something.Notice the following:

www.elllo.org

1356 Baby on BoardJeremy talks about the difficulty of taking care of a baby whiletaking a long flight.

Abidemi: So Jeremy, you mentionedearlier that you’ve been back to Canadawith your baby. How was that experience?

Jeremy: Well, I mean, until you fly with atoddler, you really never get to appreciateall of those times that you flew across theocean, you know, watching movies orreading magazines or just sleeping on theflight because those days are over.

Abidemi: Wow.

Jeremy: I mean, it’s not that bad but when you’re on the plane,you say, “Never again.” I remember about halfway into a 10-hour trans-Pacific flight, I thought, “Well, I can maybe do thisevery three years but not more than once a year for sure.”

I mean, first of all, our boy was bigger than most children for hisage. So he was about one year old. And, you know, they havethese bassinets that you’re allowed to put your child in and,you know, the baby will hopefully sleep for a while. So thestewardess sets up the bassinet, we’re all ready to put him inthere and then she says, “How old is he?” And he was 12 kilos,and this was for 11.5 maximum.

Abidemi: Oh no.

Jeremy: And they wouldn’t let us put him in there, so they hadto take the whole thing apart and basically, we had to findsome way to have him sleep on our laps for the next nine hours.

Abidemi: Oh, wow.

Jeremy: I mean, you know, one-year old like to crawl around.They like to scream, they like to cry. Other people on the flightdon’t like that so much. So, you know, it’s basically everyminute of silence you just savor and just pray that this will keepgoing, and it never does.

But, you know, once he falls asleep and the plane is quiet andthey turn off the lights then, you know, it’s okay. But it’s toolong. It’s too long for a one-year old. So I can maybe manage itonce a year but that’s about it.

Abidemi: I remember my sister, she has two kids and she toldme a story a few years back when one of her daughters wasstill a toddler, and they went to Disneyland from Canada. Andshe said it was just horrible, and they would never do it again.

And I just smiled. I didn’t have that experience. I was justthinking, “What could be so bad about it?” But hearing yourstory now, wow, I can only imagine.

Jeremy: Well, I think that – actually most people, mostpassengers on the flight are usually quite understanding. And I

1. As soon as he built the model, he took thewhole thing apart.

2. If you take a phone apart, it is hard to put backtogether.

crawl around

Children like to crawl around.

When you crawl around like babiesdo, you move with your hands andknees. Notice the following:

1. Babies like to crawl around.2. Soldiers have to crawl around in boot camp.

understanding

Most passengers on the flight areusually quite understanding.

Here, understanding means patientand sympathetic. Notice thefollowing:

1. He was quite understanding of our situation.2. Doctors need to be very understanding of

patient's fears.

in their head

It’s just in the parents’ head.

When a thought is 'in your head', thatmeans you worry about it, andperhaps more than necessary. Noticethe following:

1. My poor grades are still in my head.2. Don't worry. It's all just in your head.

judge

Everybody is judging them.

When you judge people, you makeopinions about them, oftennegatively. Notice the following:

1. A lot of people judge him for histattoos.

2. My mother judges everything I do.

Vocabulary Quiz

over • crawl • take apartunderstanding • in your head • judge

1. Babies love to around.2. I need to my bike.3. You lack of confidence is all .4. Before I was thin, but those days are

.5. You should never someone until

you know them.6. Try to be of my situation.

think it’s just, you know, in the parents’ head that everybody isjudging them, everybody is looking at them. Because, youknow, I get so worried about what other people are thinking,that inconveniencing others that I just work myself up so much,and my wife is the same way.

But, you know, talking – actually, we did have people say to uslike, “Don’t worry about it.” They will just go out of their way tosay, “Oh, what a cute baby” and stuff like that. So I think peoplewere kind of aware of how stressful it is for parents.

And they just – some people actually make an effort to makeparents feel like everybody is not silently judging them or maybenot even silently.

Abidemi: Okay. Not saying anything. If you had an advice, oneadvice to give to a parent that would travel with that child in thefuture, what would you tell them?

Jeremy: My best advice is if you can fly in the morning. So afterbaby wakes up and you have your breakfast and your flight ismaybe at, I don’t know, 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning, I think thatworks out if it’s a, say, a 10-hour flight because you’ll land it’ll beprobably around bedtime, like his normal bedtime.

The first time we did it, the flight was in the late evening. Sobasically, he’d been up all day. And then there was another 10hours on top of that. So, you know, when we landed, thereadjustment to his normal schedule was really, really difficult.But when we flew in the morning and it was a 10-hour flight,when we landed, he just basically went to sleep like a normalschedule.

So that’s a small thing but it really makes a big difference.

Abidemi: Thank you.

[End of Transcript]

Speaking Challenge

Q1 Who is someone who sometimes judges you?

A1

Q2 Who is someone who is very understanding?

A2

Q3 Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?

A3

Q4 How do you feel when a baby cries on a plane?

A4

Q5 Should parents let their kids crawl around on a plane?

A5