January,

I'm so sorry that you went through this as a child, and I'm so happy that you called the police! I'm the "troublemaker" because I call the authorities when something is going on. If I cannot fix the situation, I make every effort to get ahold of someone that will. But I must confess it's gotten me in trouble.

A few years ago, I got a frantic call from Florida (we're in Wisconsin) from a mother. Her ex had custody of their daughter who was a friend of my daughter. He and the teen had gotten into an aguement about her oversleeping. He pulled over on the freeway on the way to Milwaukee and kicked his 14 year old daughter out of the car. Her mother called and asked if I could go to a gas station about an hour from where we lived. Another motorist had picked her up hitchhiking.

When I picked her up, I notified the police that I had her, at her mother's request. The problem was that the mother was not the custodial parent. The father was freaking out. I told the police that I would NOT turn her over to her father, she was welcome to stay here, but I was not going to force her to go with her father under these conditions. They threatened to charge me kidnapping.

Eventually the two calmed down, the police negociated with them both and she agreed to go home with her father rather than spend the night in a foster home. When he came to pick her up, instead of saying "Thank you". He said "If you EVER take my daughter without permission again, I'll have you arrested."

I told him to get out of my house and never return, that Sam was welcome here anytime she wished, and if he excercised a bit of common sense, none of us would have been in this situation to begin with! How was I the bad guy?