I have traveled on airplanes enough with my two-year-old to be prepared for the normal joys of travel — sealing the diaper rash creme and child’s Tylenol in baggies so that these scary liquids and gels can be quickly identified, removing my girl’s size 7 velcro sneakers and placing them through the x-ray machine (along with her stroller) and then quickly reopening the stroller and strapping my girl in before irritating the passengers behind me, holding my child in one arm while hoisting the car seat above my head with the other arm (thank you, YMCA) to remove slamming into people’s knees as I walk down a narrow center aisle once in the plane … you know, fun stuff.

Nathan was able to travel to Maryland with us this time, so the logistics were not particularly difficult. I must say, though, that I was not prepared for an incident at BWI airport before our return flight.

Catherine does very well on airplanes. She loves going up in the air and claps her hands with excitement. She has never thrown a tantrum or playfully kicked the seat in front of her. In fact, we have had people comment at the end of a flight, “Wow! I didn’t even know there was a child sitting there.” Best compliment a parent can receive on an airplane!

OK … enough silly bragging. Here’s the point. Catherine is scared of the security line. It’s frenzied, people are irritated and she is scooped up and down repeatedly. As we approached the metal detector, Catherine was clinging to my neck with her left hand, while she clutched her beloved bunny blankie with the right hand. She had that thing pressed to her chest for comfort as the unsmiling woman beckoned us forward.

The security guard grumbled, “We need to check that, too” and then ripped the blanket from Catherine’s fingers. She flung it two conveyor belts over and moved on to the next person. Nice.

I try to be patient with all of the silly regulations that are supposed to make us safer. I don’t grumble under my breath or make mocking comments to the person next to me. However, was it really necessary to take a 12″ x 12″ blanket with a bunny head away from a little girl? Couldn’t you determine if it held suspicious content just by us walking through the metal detector? If not, I guess we need to take off our shirts and pants when we go through security as well. What’s the difference?

Ms. TSA Government Employee Hired to Enforce Absurd Federal Regulations — Thank you for bringing home yet another ridiculous instance of government interference in our lives. May your actions be making libertarians out of more of us around the country every day!