[snitadear]

My 7 year old godson (and his 3 year old sister) were taken away from the family and their father for 6 months. Circumstances have changed and they now live with their father and the rest of the family has seen them (mom is no longer in the picture). They are very excited to be back in our lives and feel all the love that we give them. We know that they have been traumatized by some things their mother has done to them...hot sauce in the mouth, breaking crab legs right in front of their faces and I'm sure there are a lot of other things that we don't know about. Whenever we ask our godson a question, he says he doesn't know or just shrugs. We think he is afraid that he might get in trouble if he tells us something we don't want to hear. For the past week and a half, a bully at school has been taking his snack and his lunch and he was afraid that we would get mad at him for it. It has now been taken care of. What can we do that would help him to be more open about answering our questions? We assure him that we won't get mad at him but it doesn't help.

[mollymae]

I think trust is something that is gained over time. Just keep doing what your doing and eventually your godson will learn to trust you.

[Tink739]

i agree with previous poster. It will take time. just give him the love and support he needs and he will slowly open up.

[browneyes01]

He needs to be able to trust you guys, yes he is happy being back with the family but he is still guarding himself becasue he doesn't quite feel safe yet, in his eyes he can be taken away again. It starts off very simple, everyday after school just have casual conversations with him. For example ask him how his day was, what he at school, what did he learn, and questions like this . These questions are just a natural things parents ask their children, everyday continue to do this until you find that you no longer have to ask him these questions and he just tells you about his day naturally because he is now comfortable, when you feel that he is comfortable then you can start to ask those questions about how it was being with his mom and other questions.