Airplane Toddler Travel: How it actually went

Despite my hopes of a smooth trip, we had an extra 3 hours added to our layover in TX, which meant that an 8 hour travel day turned into 11. Thankfully we only had a few meltdowns (and by "we," I include myself in the tally- I definitely had a meltdown during our layover.)

But instead of re-living all the negatives, here are some tips for unexpected layovers:

1. Make friends with other passengers. As soon as we arrived at the next gate, Man-cub D began to run around and greet people. His friendliness helped me meet other passengers who later played ball with Man-cub D, let him look at their vacation photos, watched our luggage while we made a few trips to the bathroom, and most importantly, kept us updated on the "maintenance" they were doing to our plane. 
2. Let your little run around! They've been sitting on a plane and/or will be sitting on a plane for hours, so you may as well let them get all the energy out that they can.
3. Tell yourself that no matter how bad it is, at least you aren't driving.