The Monster in Your Closet

“Mommy, can I hug you?”

“Of course, sweetie. You know I love your hugs!”

“Can I go play with them?” he whispered in my ear, holding me tight.

“I think they’d like that,” I said, looking at the kids playing on a rug a few feet away.

My son pulled away. I wasn’t ready to let him go, but he was ready to go. He was ready, so I released him.

–

Three years earlier, I dropped him off at day care for the very first time. I held him on my lap in the backseat of my car, gazing at his tiny, perfect face and wondering how I could possibly hand him over to someone else. How I could abandon him for ten hours at a time, having never before been away from him for more than two or three anxiety-riddled hours. Read more…