My daughter and her best friend, both 8 years old, and I, were out walking when BF said "did you know my mummy goes funny every evening? she keeps falling asleep even when she's on the toilet and if I wake her up she tells me off. She fell asleep under the kitchen table once and slept there all night. Do you think she is ill?" BF then said she'd looked in a medical dictionary and wondered if her mum had sleeping sickness or cancer. I said I didn't know but it was a good idea to wake up her mum if she was worried. BF seemed happy with that answer. BFs mum is a dear friend of mine. She has a heroin dependency problem and is getting professional help. has been for several years. She may or may not be on a reduction programme. I don't question closely and don't expect her to tell me the whole truth.
I told her what her daughter had said as I knew she would want to know that. She said she would deal with it.
I am still worried. I don't know if I have done enough. I don't like lying to her daughter. What do I say if she asks me more questions. I feel worried about her evenings with her mother. I am not convinced BFs mum is coping. I strongly suspect she takes the drug still, despite any reduction programme. I only see her in the day when she is pretty together. I had no idea that she fell asleep like her daughter said every evening.I don't know what to believe now.
I am very worried our daughter will find out more than we want her to know about drugs at her age. If BF finds out she might pass this information on to our daughter. My brother took heavy drugs but it is in the past now. However we live in a small town and people remember. I don't want my daughter finding out too soon. She idolises her uncle and she is very fond of her BFs mum. I don't want her world to shatter.
Keeping our daughter apart from BF is not possible as they are in the same class at school.I don't want to involve social services because BFs mum is already seeking help for her problem. She holds down a responsible job. I don't want to ruin her life. I see her daughter every day and she is happy, well cared for and loved by her mum and dad. My partner thinks we can't do more for now and that we must trust BFs mum to sort it out with her daughter. I feel really cross with her for doing this. I know she won't take on board my worries. She feels she has things under control and thinks she conceals her problems from her daughter. I have talked to her before, but until now it wasn't such a worry as her daughter seemed blissfully unaware. Now both girls are getting older they are bound to be more curious and questioning. Should I trust BF's mum to sort this out?