When my four-year-old daughter, Lina, held her newborn sister for the first time, her joy was overwhelming. But that beautiful moment took a strange turn when she whispered that she now had “someone to keep secrets with,” specifically secrets she kept from her father. At first, I dismissed it as childish imagination, but her comments persisted. She began talking about a “monster” that only appeared when her dad wasn’t home, and she even drew a frightening picture of a tall, faceless figure with the words, “Don’t let him take her.”
My husband, James, initially thought it was just a game, but my concern grew. I installed a baby monitor and watched as Lina exhibited odd behavior, like standing silently outside our bedroom door at night. The situation reached a crisis point when Lina disappeared one morning, taking her baby sister with her. We found them hiding in the garden shed, where Lina explained she was protecting her sister from the “monster.” It was then that James broke down and confessed. He had been struggling with alcohol during my pregnancy and had sometimes yelled at Lina or handled her too roughly when I wasn’t around.
In her fear, Lina had transformed these moments into a monster only she could see. James immediately sought help, beginning therapy and sobriety. Our family began the slow process of healing, with Lina also receiving support to overcome her anxiety. The experience taught us that sometimes, the scariest monsters aren’t under the bed—they’re the hidden struggles within our own homes. Today, our family is rebuilding trust, and Lina no longer feels she needs to keep secrets to feel safe.
