What do you get your son for his seventh birthday a couple of weeks before Christmas?

This year I had a brain wave. I decided to treat him to a flight to Dublin from Cork. He had never been in an airplane and was always asking if he would ever get to fly in one.

It was a bit extravagant - certainly not something I'll be doing every year - but it was worth it. I told him two weeks before we went. I think the whole school knew that evening, and his teacher told him to wave as he passed over the playground. He didn't sleep much the night before and checked my bag at least five times to make sure I had the tickets.

We were in the airport two hours early, Christmas lights and decorations everywhere. I was as excited as any child - the mood was infectious.

We eventually got to board the plane, having first passed through the security checks with the x-ray scanners and travelled along the conveyor belt. "Mom, don't walk - just stand and you'll be carried along!" He was loving every minute of it. "I'm so excited - this is the best day of my life."

The flight only lasted 30 minutes and seemed even less. The cabin crew were particularly nice: one of them offered to take Seamus into the cockpit. His eyes were bright with excitement: "Can I Mom?" "Go ahead." He was back within minutes but I think those few minutes are etched in his mind forever. "It was very dark in there. But I saw two steering wheels and a little aeroplane on the control panel to keep you straight. There are hundreds of buttons all lit up - they even need two pilots there are so many. Mom you should see, it's cool."

He spent the rest of the flight checking out how the safety belt worked, looking at the safety manual - and it took all my time to keep him from opening the life jacket under his seat.

Flying in over Dublin was amazing - the lights were not the lights in the shop windows but the lights of the city, better than any Christmas tree. Thanks for the memory, Aer Lingus.