When my 14-year-old son Mason asked to live with his dad after our divorce, I agreed, hoping it would help them reconnect. At first, things seemed fine — he sent selfies and updates that made me believe he was happy. But then, the calls stopped. His teachers began reaching out: missing homework, disengagement, even cheating on a quiz. I tried calling Mason. Nothing. When I reached out to his dad, Eddie brushed it off as teenage laziness. But I knew something was wrong.

I drove to Mason’s school and waited. When he finally got in the car, he looked exhausted and broken. “I can’t sleep, Mom,” he whispered. That’s when I learned the truth: Eddie had lost his job and hadn’t told anyone. Mason had been holding the household together alone — surviving on dry cereal and crackers, doing homework in the dark, and pretending everything was fine.