Every time I offered to change my grandkid’s diaper or bathe him, my daughter-in-law found a reason to refuse. On Halloween, he began crying uncontrollably in his thick clothes. What I found while trying to comfort him changed everything.
“Linda, please DO NOT TAKE OFF HIS COSTUME. He gets cold.”
I read the note my daughter-in-law had tucked into my grandson’s car seat. Then I looked at the thick pumpkin costume covering him from his neck to his toes.
It was Halloween, and my nine-month-old grandson, Finn, had just been dropped at my house without warning.
His parents were already gone.
I had no idea that within the hour, I’d discover something under that costume that would explain nine months of strange behavior.
My name is Linda, and until that evening, I’d barely been allowed to care for my own grandson.
Since Finn was born, my daughter-in-law, Megan, had insisted on keeping him covered. Even during the hottest days of summer, she dressed him in footed onesies with long sleeves that covered his hands.
