Our Ancestors Never Had Jet Lag

So jet lag is a real thing.

The kids were so excited.  No one would believe me that they were going to get hit with jet lag.  I tried to get them to sleep on the plane, but there were too many movies and too much excitement.  They didn't listen.  And now they are tired.  So mom was right.  Yeah, mom was right. Gotta love those moments.

As we got off the plane we had another one of those watershed moments.  Kim and I were a little slow getting our carry on suitcases and the kids got quite ahead of us.  My 12 year old daughter took off in search of a restroom and when I came off the plane, I went a bit ballistic (a bit) that she wasn't there waiting for us.  First steps into a foreign country and already we'd lost a child.  :)  She didn't realize, that unlike US airports where there are places to sit, and restrooms throughout, in a British airport, there are only long plain hallways until you get to the passport check area.  So everyone was in for a long lecture about how "things are different" here.  And as all teenagers react when faced with a long lecture from mom, I was greeted with "no they aren't--we know what we are doing."  "We've watched Dr. Who.  We know what we're talking about."  Yeah well, we'll see who's right about that one.

Solved it fairly quickly with a quick trip to Tesco (England's Walmart.)  We bought some Barbequed Lamas, and Oddities.  Happily, we found modest clothing for a 12 year old girl (who would have thought?  I can't find anything for her to wear without looking like a slut in the states but we scored at Tesco of all places.)  Since then we've had Prawn Cocktail crisps (Potato chips flavored with shrimp cocktail), Roast Chicken crisps, and we love Jaffa Cakes and Mint Humbugs. 

Emigration must have been something else for our ancestors.  What a exciting/scary/overwhelming experience it must have been to get off the boat.  Different foods, different sights, different languages.  If you have ever been to a foreign country you know what I mean.  We think the world is smaller now because the internet and our media has connected us, but it hasn't connected us as much as it sometimes seems.  Even the mother country is so very different.  I can't imagine having gotten off that plane with $10 in my pocket and knowing I needed to find a job immediately.  Not knowing anyone, not knowing where I was going.  Now we have reservations, and phones, and google earth.  And of course we have the money we need for our temporary trip.  Our immigrant ancestors were so incredibly brave.

But then they didn't have jet lag.  That's something I guess.  At least they were awake in the morning, and they didn't have a surge of energy when it was time for bed.  That is something just this last generation or two has invented.