I really dislike the “known them years/from school” defence people use like said above, it means naff all. It furthers the stigma that all weirdos are stranger danger off the street. Some of the vilest people are right on your door step and often friends and family as sad as it is. Would I leave my child in the company of an old female friend I lost touch with from school? Definetly not. I struggled dropping my baby off for his first day at nursery today. All those strangers, me not seeing everything. I could never bring a man around that soon. I understand people’s circumstances are different, and with no free time or being a lonely single mum you could really rely on the extra company, but I couldn’t do it myself. Toddlers aren’t given enough credit sometimes, like said earlier, she can’t talk, she can’t say full sentences and she doesn’t fully understand but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel. Children are their own people with their own emotions and boundaries.
I’m not saying for 1 second this guy is a bad person, or would harm Harlow at all, but as a mother, you’ve got to protect your baby. Even emotionally.