Someone was lying next to Emily. For a few seconds I just stared at the screen, trying to understand what was happening. The camera showed an adult quietly lying beside my daughter.

It was my mother-in-law.

She was quietly lying next to Emily, covered with the edge of the blanket. And in that moment I immediately remembered our old argument.

A few months earlier we had a serious fight because I decided that Emily should sleep in her own room. My mother-in-law had then literally attacked me with accusations.

She said I was a bad mother, that small children shouldn’t sleep alone, that they might get scared at night, that something might happen to them.

I calmly but firmly told her that my daughter should have her own room. She was deeply offended. And now I understood what had been happening.

When the whole house fell asleep, she would quietly get up at night, go into Emily’s room, and lie down next to her until morning.

She was convinced she was doing the right thing and helping the child, without even thinking that she was actually frightening her and making her feel uncomfortable. The next morning we had a very serious conversation.

I didn’t remove the camera. And my mother-in-law no longer has any right to interfere with how I raise my daughter.