"But it's my own child!"

Friends, I understand that things don't work out sometimes in relationships. You married him or her, you had a kid, and bam-- it hits you-- this isn't the one you want to spend the rest of your life with.

So you get a divorce. No big deal. There's no social stigma anymore. Everyone does it, right? The kids live half their lives under someone else's care anyway. What's the problem with only seeing them on the weekends? Or on holidays. Or whatever.

But then you decide that, for whatever reason, you want more control over the kids' lives than you believe you have. You start taking advantage of more of your opportunities to spend time with the kids. Maybe it's because you really love the kids, and miss seeing them every day. Or maybe it's just to show that bitch of an ex who's really in charge, here. You have your rights as a parent, and you'll be damned if you're not going to exercise 'em.

So you begin to invoke your right to take the kids to their doctors' appointments. To attend their school events. To take them to special church events, when you heretofore cared nothing about church. Or whatever. Involved parent? Or lashing out to attempt to regain some control?

Then, one day, you step over the line.

You go by the school, or the daycare, or where-ever, and try to pick up your kid on a time other than the scheduled time. The person charged with the care of your kid waivers. She's been told to watch out for something like this. . . . Something about sticking to the court-ordered schedule. She picks up the phone to call your ex spouse, and learns that you've not coordinated this pickup. That you're trying to take the child at a time other than your regularly-scheduled time.

The cops get called. And this is where I get involved. I don't want to get involved with your admittedly petty custody disputes. But I've been called, and here I am. The spouse says he or she knows nothing about your attempt to pick up your kid. The court order explicitly says that you have no right to do so. The caregiver makes clear that you got pretty adamant that you were by-Gawd going to take your kid and leave. Pushy, in fact.

So what am I, the cop going to do? Here's a court order, signed by a District Judge, ordering you to abide by the terms that you've signed (yep. There's your signature, right there.) off on.

In Texas, Kidnapping means to take physical control of a person that you didn't have a lawful right to take control over.

Do you see where this is going?

Don't put me in that position. Please.

If you don't like the terms to your custody agreement, then try to get them changed. Don't just violate them to show your ex. Because you might just lose that little show, and lose big.