Trip update 8

This is skipping over miles of territory but I wanted to write a bit about today's adventure.

We are now at Paul's brother John's place in Poland, and John's wife Laura and I were just talking about those freak-out moments as a mom when you realize "My child doesn't know this obvious thing that everybody just KNOWS! Where have I gone wrong??? What's going to happen to him??"

I had tried to help Steven pack before we left home and he took to that like a cat to a cold bath so I lectured him good and let him pack his own backpack.

At Portland they confiscated three too-large bottles of shampoos and such. "Steven, what were you THINKING??"

As we left Nairobi on Tuesday and flew to Amsterdam and then to Poland, I assumed all was well and he knew the rules. After all, hadn't I given him another lecture--no shampoo, Ok?? And no knives! Nothing like that! Got it??

So we went through security to catch our flight from Amsterdam to Warsaw today and suddenly all the antennae went up on the heads leaning over Steven's backpack.

And there was a big Dutch security guy holding Steven's high-powered slingshot.

I had a fit. You had a SLINGSHOT in your BACKPACK???!!! WHY???

Shrug. "I thought I might use it."

Two big Dutch security guys with black boots and big guns and blue berets came over to Steven and Paul and me. "Do you speak English? Yes? Well, do you realize that a catapult is considered a weapon in Holland?"

Lord have mercy.

"We will have to call the local police."

We gave the other kids their passports and boarding passes and told them to go on to Warsaw without us if need be.

Soon a few policemen surrounded us, joining the normal airport security guys and the guys with big guns. The policemen had small guns and lots of other stuff on their belts. There was lots of talk in Dutch and the occasional sentence in English about taking us to the police station and/or fining us 60 euros and this is considered a weapon and it's illegal, do we understand that?

Yes, believe me, we did now.

They took a photocopy of Steven's passport and filled out a few forms and looked serious.

Finally, finally, they told us we can just go. "No fine."

I think they figured out that we were hick Americans who consider slingshots normal equipment on international trips and a fine wouldn't change anything and maybe in another generation or two we would be more civilized, they could only hope.

So we left and I apologized profusely for about the fourth time.

Steven didn't act dented by the ordeal at all.

Paul said, "I hope you at least feel foolish," plus a few other things.

I didn't say much because it's better if Paul says it and I was too furious and most of all because I was, and still am, having a crisis as a mom. "Where have I gone WRONG that my kid didn't KNOW not to take a SLINGSHOT of all things on an AIRPLANE????? HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW THIS??? Adn what POSSESSED him to stick it in in the first place???"

Somebody please tell me he's going to grow up and eventually learn this stuff.