I hate the 'fasten seat-belt' sign

There I said it. I hate that little sign on airplanes and the little ding dong sound that goes with it. Hate might seem like a strong word. It's just a little sign, after all, and most travelers would argue that there are much bigger things to complain about on most airlines. But right now on this particular Singapore Airlines flight, I hate that sign.

It's the first leg of our first European adventure with master Sebastian. Until now, things had been going relatively well. We're not traveling as light as we used to, but we were well under our luggage limit at check-in (read: still plenty of room for shopping). No time for duty-free window shopping, but we made it to the gate and were boarded from the business gate before the business passengers (now that's a benefit to traveling with a baby!). Sebastian's smiles even managed to charm our nearby passengers - some managed nervous smiles in our general direction, although I'm sure few believed he could stay cute and well-behaved for the entire journey.

Seb kicking back at the boarding gate

A couple of hours ago, at Seb's bedtime, we put him in his pyjamas, popped him in the on-board bassinet and pretty soon he was fast asleep. Carl and I smiled smugly at each other, and settled in to watch a movie. It was all going so well. Until now.

The rules for the on-board bassinet are clear: no baby in the bassinet for take off, landing and when the seat-belt sign is on. Humph. Two hours ago the seat-belt sign was switched on for the first time, and it's been on and off ever since which means Sebastian has been in and out of the bassinet, still asleep for now but who knows how long we can keep this up.

Here's the kicker though. There's no turbulence. Not even a little bounce here and there. Nada. So either the pilot knows something we don't or he's got a really annoying twitch. Either way, I now hate that sign.

Seb looking a little unimpressed with his bassinet