Dear MIMsters: Why I Am I Feel Like I Have Failed My Five-Year-Old Son

I am a mother who is trying everything within my capabilities to ensure good parenting, but it seems as if I am not doing enough which makes me feel terrible with myself.

I have a son who is less than 5 years old. I try everything I can to raise him well. I have taught him about his private part, to the extent that if his younger brother playfully touches his penis, he will scream and beat him because he finds it offensive.

I was always happy about that feeling rewarded for not wasting the lessons I taught him. Not knowing, what was going to happen. In fact, I feel betrayed by my own son.

My mother-in-law lives kind of close to us. She often wants my son to spend the weekends with her, an idea I am not always comfortable with. This is because there are some other children who live with MIL that I don’t trust. I don’t know if they have good morals and a good upbringing and I don’t want them wrongly influencing my son but my husband thinks that I’m just being selfish with my son, so I allowed him to keep visiting MIL.

Once, he returned from MIL’s and complained of itchy penis. I found that weird because he is too young and I observe good hygiene. Hence, I become more watchful of him. And as I did, I became restless and sensitive about him but with no evidence to support my motherly instincts.

On one Sunday morning, I woke up to find my son banging his penis on the bed like he was having sex, I was perplexed. As I watched, I saw him banging harder on the bed! Mimsters, I felt broken as I slapped his bum and he stopped.

Even though I was mad at him, I tried to stay calm. I promised him that I won’t punish him because I wanted to ask him some questions. He told me of how a girl, 5 years older, who lives with my MIL wakes him up in the night to molest him. She taught him how to insert his penis into hers.

My son is tall and doesn’t look his age!

His father beat him while I counseled my son instead. His father was so mad about it that he has said, he will never be allowed to go visiting MIL alone.

Dear parents, always watch out for your children and choose who they spend their time with! Never underestimate those motherly instincts!

As a mother, I feel as if I have failed to protect my son and I haven’t been able to look him straight in the eye since that day. At the same time, I feel disappointed and a tint of dislike for him.