I don’t allow crayons or markers in my house. GASP! I know, I’m a horrible mother, stifling my child’s creativity! The horror! No. I simply give my kids all the “mess free” versions around. The few times a crayon has slipped into my toddler’s possession it’s ended up all over the walls or broken into pieces all over my carpet.

Anyway, when I came across the Aquadoodle I thought it’d be perfect for my son. His favorite color is blue, so he immediately loved that it was the color he saw when he wrote. I tested it out the day before we left for NY, to see if it was worth packing into the only bag I planned on bringing for our 2 week stay. After thanking me for getting him something that “draws blue”, he proceeded to spend the next 2 hours drawing every member of our family.

I packed one carry on to last 2 weeks for myself and my 2 children. I’m that good. After 8 years as an airline Supervisor, I learned to not check bags. Sometime in the future I’ll tell you stories of what happens to some (not all) of those bags, but not just yet.

The following morning, we headed from Charlotte to Detroit and then on to Syracuse after a 2 hour layover. I know US Air has a non stop, but Northwest was offering round trip tickets for $150 each and who am I to pass that up? I’ve flown to visit family every 3 months since having my first, only missing a few trips while i was pregnant with Josh. Both sides of the family are in NY and these are the times I don’t want anyone to miss.

While in the Detroit we stopped at one of the many kids play area’s they have in the airport. That’s why I love Detroit. Every few gates they have a nice open area with a very dirty looking play area for my child to frolic in. I hand sanitize (we call it ‘hanitize’) every 180 seconds, and it really helps pass the time between flights.

Jake, my 3 year old, is never a problem in an airport. He’s been on more flights than half the adults in the US. It was my infant that had me worried. At 6 months, Josh can’t walk but absolutely does not want to sit still either.

While Jacob played, Josh looked on in wonder. Suddenly I realized I packed the mat in my bag. It’s so compact, I just slid it right into the front pocket of my carry on. When Jake saw it, he jumped out of the house, got ‘hanitized’ and immediately set to work on drawing all the airport employees (who really resemble the members of my family in his artistic eye).

While Jake drew, Josh rocked. When we left home, he was just starting the rocking phase. This mat saved my sanity. No kidding. I had a completely compact, sanitary place to put my infant while at the same time doubling as a drawing mat for my toddler.

Once at my mom’s in NY, it proved quite worthwhile. The way the mat works is that you fill a pen with water, hand it to your child and he or she draws. As the drawing dries, it disappears. When visiting family, it’s always so hard to keep kids properly occupied. This recycles the same giant (32 x 32) mat and the pen never dries out. You just fill it with water and it’s good to go.

When I found Josh chewing on the tip of the pen I didn’t have to snatch it out of his mouth in panic. I don’t have to worry about crayon or marker on the couch, walls or tables. The only problem I’ve had with it had nothing to do with the mat, it was with my child. I walked in my mother’s living room to find him on the floor with his 2 cousins. He looked up and said he was “making a pool” and I noticed the entire drawing area on his mat was blue.

When I asked them how they managed to color in every part, my niece Laura said “We dumped apple juice on it!” with glee. I realized that the kids figured out how the ‘magic’ happened and decided to dump their juice boxes all over it. Once covered in liquid, the surface turned blue and the kids took turns “diving in” and pretending to swim on the mat. I figured we’d now be stuck with a very sticky mat. I took it from the kids and ran it under the kitchen sink, then hung it out to dry. The next morning it was as good as new.

My vacation is half over and Jake still hasn’t tired of drawing. I’ll be making my return trip this weekend and I can say some of my unease of flying with 2 children and a layover has been relieved. The Aquadoodle Draw ‘N Doodle retails at $24.99 and is suggested for ages 3 and up. For more info, check out their website at http://www.aquadoodletoys.com/