Writers of how-to articles about traveling with kids usually talk about Baby's ears popping in airplanes and keeping little Junior and Sis amused on long drives so they don't refight the Macedonian War in the back seat. Older kids, these writers seem to assume, can take care of themselves, when they deign to travel with Mom and Dad at all.
Of course, parents who believe that also believe in the magical repeal of Murphy's Law the minute they step on an airplane. Having been on enough family trips to know that each contains its own seeds of disaster, my wife made what she thought were adequate preparations before we took off for Paris and London June 15. Travel insurance, of course, together with all the requisite supplies for my son's allergies and asthma and my daughter's nose bleeds.
I stocked up on Bufferin -- headaches always hit me at the worst times on my jaunts around the planet. I knew that I would pack at least one thing that I would never use and forget at least one thing that I would definitely need, but two world capitals were not deserts. I could always pick up that pack of missing razor blades later. So, on to Narita.