What were you thinking?

This morning, I took my kids to their nursery school. It is a pretty tame place within a church building. They host a co-op of home school teenagers during the same time that my kids are there. It is nice to see high school students and pre-schoolers mingling together.

Except for today.

This morning, I was getting my kids out of the car when I saw a teenage boy walking past us into the school dressed (I am not exaggerating at all) in head-to-toe camo, with a black hat on this head that covered his ears, chin, and most of his face. On his eyes he wore dark glasses and was carrying a large bag into school. He pretty much looked like the Columbine shooters.

I saw his mom then PARK the car and walk in to chat with her friends inside the school.

OKay, I get that trust your kid implicitly. That this MIGHT not even cross your mind that you raised what looks like the Unabomber. I want to have understanding.

Except that it has only been a year since Virginia Tech. Columbine is not such a dim memory that you can just dress like that and walk into an educational environment and no one will raise an eyebrow.

I spent the rest of the morning trying to justify why I left my kids there and didn't immediately turn around and go home. I honestly did not know how to address the situation.

After several hours of being gone, I returned early to the school and spoke with the director about my concerns. She told me, "It's the end of the year. They might have had a dress up day or skits or something."

That's nice. How about not having a school shooting dress up day?
How would any of you handled this? I seriously felt like I was overreacting and that nobody else seemed to have a problem with this. But it freaked me out-BIG TIME. And it was the first time that I have ever felt threatened, that I thought my kids could be a target. I hate this.