I found this in my 9-year-old\u2019s drawer near her record player. There\u2019s a black, sticky residue on the bottom. I shared it in my gardening group on the Tedooo app where I sell, and they suggested I ask here.<\/p>\n
It gave me that sinking feeling you get when you think your child might be hiding something. She told me it was for candles, but we don\u2019t have candles. Last week she asked if a new friend could sleep over, the one whose mom \u201cworks nights,\u201d the one who showed her that TikTok dance about pills. Now I\u2019m seeing this lighter tucked away under her diary.<\/p>\n
I remember when her secrets were about imaginary friends. Now I\u2019m looking things up and trying not to panic. My husband thinks I\u2019m overreacting and says she\u2019s only nine, but he didn\u2019t find the lighter.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve asked around, even posted in groups, trying to figure it out. One person messaged me privately and said to look into her friend group. Tomorrow I\u2019ll have to talk to her and figure out what\u2019s going on, even if it means becoming the kind of parent I never thought I\u2019d be.<\/p>\n
She used to tell me everything. I keep wondering when that changed, and what I might still be missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I found this in my 9-year-old\u2019s drawer near her record player. There\u2019s a black, sticky residue on the bottom. I shared it in my gardening group on the Tedooo app … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n