FBI's Most Wanted!

Obviously, the business of crime fighting must be getting a bit slow (a good thing) and the G-Men (or G-People to be more politically correct) are expanding their search parameters just a bit. Not sure what I mean?? Maeve and I just returned from our Christmas vacation visiting family in the Midwest and guess WHO was "randomly" selected for search at the checkpoints in the airport, both on our departing & return flights.

My reaction was, "Are you kidding me???". Evidently not. So you wonder, what does a potential fugitive and causer of mayhem look like...



Now I was curious, what might have tipped the authorities off on this suspected troublemaker? I've put together a few items of interest that might explain it.

The Addictions
- Orange Juice (also known as juice & juicy). Any child guzzling down such copious amounts of the orange stuff is subject to suspicion, especially after knocking off a hefty sippy cup in seconds flat, comes the incessant chant of "More, more, more, more, more..."
- Dora. Although innocent enough at first glance, the glazed, hypnotic trance it produces when played should be the first tip off. The extreme & unhappy reaction when the battery to my laptop gave out mid flight...mid Dora show, should be the second.

The Escape Attempts
- Sometimes the temptation of the wide open spaces of an airport and an overloaded Mommy can be too much of a temptation. My favorite part was after rounding her up for the umpteenth and delivering a stern scolding, I could hear other parents use Maeve as an example of what not to do in the airport with their children. Can we say "Timeout" and a sobbing child? Yes, we can.
Note - Mommy wised up and turned on Dora at this point...dilemma resolved.

The Alias
- She was wearing her "Cinderella" necklace, that when the button is pushed spouts out "I'm Cinderella". Maybe they took her a bit too seriously or someone went a little loco after hearing it for the 245th time. (Not me, that's what they make Ipods for...guaranteed to drown out all mention of Cinderella within a 10 foot radius).

The outfit
Now this one I question, because I picked out her outfit that day. So, none of her crazy concoctions of colors, materials and headbands as accessories that day, but looking back...I wonder. I did have her "Pirates Loot" t-shirt on her. That combined with all the "Bling" she was sporting (multiple hair pretties, huge Cinderella necklace, multiple Cinderella bracelets & rings) might have tipped them off. Maeve played with all her "jewelry" all day, taking it on & off, storing it in her pockets. It might have been mistaken for her "Loot".

I do want to note, that in each case they did end up exempting her from any additional searches.

PS - The holiday trip was fantastic. I'll have more details in a later post.

Posted by Laura at 2:36 AM