The unexpected hazards of airplane safety

When we took our trip to England last month, the kids were absolutely enthralled with the emergency/safety pamphlets provided in the seat pockets.  For the first couple plane rides, they stared at those pamphlets for several minutes straight.  Relieved our children were so quietly occupied, Pete and I sat back in blissful naiveté.

But then came the questions.

"Why is that plane landing in the water?"
"Why are they wearing masks?"
"Why do they have life jackets?"
"Did that plane crash?"
"Is our plane going to crash?"
"But what if it DOES crash?"
"What is going to happen to us?"

Oy.

We did our best to reassure them that this situation was unlikely...so unlikely that they may as well assume it's not going to happen at all.  Mommy and Daddy will take care of you, it's not something you need to worry about.  And so forth.  We're not trying to coddle our kids, but we do attempt to discourage worries about things they can't control.

Of course, just as they seemed sufficiently satisfied with our feebly improvised explanations, a helpful flight attendant brought out a special mini life jacket, especially for James.

Yeah, thanks for that.

Still, it appeared that no long-term damage was done, and their fragile psyches stayed intact.  Until just the other day, when I found this board game Daphne had been working on...

Yes, "Lundin" = London
Yes, "Canuda" = Canada
Yes, the mom has the kid strapped to herself, just like on the safety card.  No, they are not smiling.
Yes, "Zoom."
Yes, "Boom."

When we fly to Luxembourg, I think we'll go ahead and hide those safety cards.

You know, just to be safe.