Sandra and Andrew had their hands full running a popular Italian restaurant while raising their sweet three-year-old son, Matteo. To juggle it all, they hired Anthea, the responsible-seeming daughter of their neighbor, to pick Matteo up from daycare and care for him in the afternoons. For a while, everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But then one day, Sandra received an unexpected call from Matteo’s daycare teacher. The teacher gently shared a concern: Matteo had started crying every single time Anthea arrived to pick him up. It wasn’t a one-time thing—this had become a pattern, even on days when he’d otherwise been cheerful and well-behaved.
Alarmed, Sandra gently asked Matteo if he liked Anthea. He gave a small nod… but his eyes dropped, and his face stayed serious. No smile. No sparkle. Just a quiet, hesitant nod.
That was enough to set off alarm bells.
The next day, Sandra and Andrew decided to follow Anthea after daycare pickup. They hung back, just close enough to see without being seen. What they witnessed stunned them: as soon as Matteo ran to play with his friends outside after school, Anthea snapped at him and yanked him away. No kindness, no patience—just cold control.
Matteo’s tears, it turned out, weren’t about leaving daycare—they were about losing those joyful, carefree moments with his friends. And maybe something deeper.
Sandra and Andrew knew then and there—they had to make a change. For Matteo’s well-being, and for his happiness.
What they discovered might seem small on the surface… but sometimes, it’s the little moments that reveal the biggest truths.