We Adopted a 4-Year-Old Girl – A Month Later, She Came to Me and Said, ‘Mommy, Don’t Trust Daddy’
Adopting a child had always been a dream of mine and my husband, Matt. After years of waiting, we finally brought our sweet 4-year-old daughter, Lily, into our home. We were overjoyed, eager to start this new chapter as a family. For the first month, everything seemed perfect. Lily quickly bonded with me and Matt, and we couldn’t have been happier.
But then, one evening, after Matt had tucked Lily into bed, she came to me with tears in her eyes. “Mommy, don’t trust Daddy,” she whispered in a trembling voice. My heart stopped. I couldn’t understand what she meant. Lily had always been a joyful and trusting child, and the thought that something could be wrong with Matt never crossed my mind. I was shaken, confused, and instantly overwhelmed with concern.
I tried to stay calm. “What do you mean, sweetheart?” I asked gently, pulling her close. But Lily couldn’t explain further. She was scared, and I didn’t want to push her too hard. Still, her words haunted me. Did she feel threatened? Had something happened that I didn’t know about?
The next few days, I watched Matt more closely, trying to pick up on any clues. I even spoke to a child therapist to make sure Lily felt safe in our home. After multiple sessions, the therapist assured me that Lily was simply processing a lot of emotions after the trauma she had experienced before joining our family. It turned out that she had been through some tough situations in her early years, and her comment about “trusting Daddy” was likely tied to past fears, not anything Matt had done.
I realized that, sometimes, children express their anxieties in ways that we don’t fully understand. With love and patience, we continued to work together as a family, ensuring Lily felt safe and secure.
