On the way down to Orlando, I sat near a young mother and her toddler. I had so much fun keeping her busy while her mom took a break. They were traveling from San Francisco to Orlando, so it was a very, very long day for the young mother. The toddler looked so much like the brunette twin was she was the same age. At one point the little girl crawled into the brunette twin's lap so she could look out the window. She really did look just like the brunette twin.
One the way back to Chicago, I sat next to an eight-year old girl traveling with her family. They were separated with the girl sitting across the aisle from her father. She told me it was only the second time she was on a plane, so I talked to her about flying. She talked about her adventures at Disney World. It was her first trip to the Magic Kingdom and she was enchanted.
The girls had a good time talking about how I talked to the little girl for most of the trip. I was sitting next to Daddy, so they thought I ignored him. Daddy, though, had a different take. He thought it was great that the little girl kept me busy. He had a nice, quiet flight.
The girls understood what Daddy was saying. For future trips they will probably start looking at people who might fill in the third seat not as interlopers, but as people who can keep Mommy busy during the flight. It's a funny twist to my extrovert personality that makes for a great story.