A Terrible Home Life All Around
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“My wife works at a kindergarten as an aid. She told me a story about this kid. He’s from a rough family, mom’s in jail for substance abuse and dad sells the stuff, clothes never fit, smell bad, shoes are old and falling apart.
He was talking about how his dad takes really good care of him when he’s sick, tells her how he makes him special soup. She asked him what was in it and he goes, ‘well, he takes it out of the can and microwaves it for me in a bowl when I don’t feel good.’ Wife is like ‘oh.’
‘My grandma cooks stuff too, in the back of the house, but she says I’m not allowed to eat that. It’s not food.’
Cue the big red flag. She sends the kid to the teacher, who calls DFS, and the kid tells them the same story. Some time goes by and they ended up busting grandma and dad for cooking and selling speed in their house. The kid lives with his other grandparents the next town over now.”
The Needy Trio
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“Was working at a children’s camp. There was a family of three very hyperactive/needy boys, 9, 7 and 5 years of age, respectively.
They weren’t the worst we’ve had but as a trio, they were a definite handful and they earned the (private among staff) nicknames Crash Bandicoot, Mr. Menopause, and Stoner Kid very quickly. Crash, because he literally threw himself into obstacles several times an hour, shouting like Tarzan; Menopause because he threw dramatic passive aggressive tantrums at the drop of a hat; and Stoner Kid because he wandered around with zero awareness of his surroundings, necessitating we watch him closely to ensure he didn’t literally walk into walls.
It was Mr. Menopause who announced to the rest of the kids that his daddy had thrown his mommy down the stairs and she was in hospital asleep (in a coma in the ICU). The other kids were asking questions and Mr. Menopause was relishing the attention and started giving graphic details before we pulled him away (cueing another tantrum). The poor kids had witnessed it.
We learned the authorities were already involved and that was why their maternal grandma had been dropping them off and picking them up. That was one of the less fun conversations I’ve had with a child’s guardian.”
“It’s Heartbreaking”
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“I had a girl who was going to court against her biodad who had violated her, and she would not stop telling people, ‘Don’t let (biodads first name) come near you because he’s mean and bad and will touch your privates!’ It really shocked me because this girl is the sweetest and funniest little girl ever – shes only 4.
I’ve had kids who were playing Barbies and one of the ‘mom’ Barbies started yelling at the ‘child’ Barbies like, ‘I wish you were never born! I hate you! I wish I had never carried you,’ etc.
And I’ve had kids who talk about their parents’ fights, what they said, where they went, and how many doors they slammed.
Nothing is off limits at (a good) daycare, because children can’t go through these things alone, and often the parents don’t want to talk about it or they’re the ones causing the problem. It’s heartbreaking really.”
You Can’t Save Them All
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“They tell me everything! If you lie to your daycare worker your child will spill the beans.
I have lots of 3-year-olds struggling with potty training. Every single parent will tell me they’re working with the child at home. Your kid will tell me if that’s true or if you’re just putting them in a diaper as soon as you get home.
The biggest thing I’ve been told: one little girl mentioned how her grandma tries to breastfeed her. Her grandma picked her up every day from daycare and had her just about all afternoon with her, alone. We called parents and CPS. An investigation was done and grandma admitted to holding her like she was nursing but claimed they were just cuddling.
From my conversation with the little one, it sounded like it was definitely going on. She was really, really detailed for a 3-year-old. Grandma walked away unscathed and still picked little girl up from daycare regularly.”
Serious Repercussions For Accidents
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“There were a handful of really sad cases where children would disclose neglect or abuse. One girl, in particular, had a meltdown one day when she had an accident in her underwear. Turned out that her mom would slap her around just gently enough to not leave a mark and lock her in a closet when she ‘misbehaved,’ which included accidents. Needless to say, we reported the mother to CPS and did a rush job washing the girls clothing so she could go home in the same clothes she wore to school, without her mom knowing about the accident.
Then there are lots of kids spilling the beans on new pregnancies or divorces, arguments between parents, or infidelity. Kids see and hear a lot and they tend to have an incredibly good memory for that kind of stuff.”
It’s Not Jungle Juice, That’s For Sure
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“A 3-year-old told me he had belly aches every day because mommy gave him to much sleepy juice. I said what’s that? He didn’t know. I brought it up to her and she said like it was all normal and fine, even with a little laugh, ‘Ah, yeah sometimes I give him a little bit too much NyQuil because the little brat doesn’t sleep.’ I was like ‘Uhm no child that age should have any NyQuil!’ She laughed it off and said, ‘Oh he’s been getting it since he was a year old, nothing bad has happened.’
And on top of that, the kids always came in smelling like strong weed. CPS was called.”
Busting A Parent For Using
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“When I was teaching childcare, it was to babies and toddlers so they couldn’t tell me anything, but I do have a few stories.
Once a little girl brought a sippy cup with her that morning, which wasn’t allowed at our school, so I poured the juice down the sink to rinse out the cup but noticed it smelled weird. I called the mom and asked her if she realized she’d put vino in the sippy cup. She claimed she had vino in a pitcher in her fridge for some reason and grabbed that by mistake, luckily the girl hadn’t consumed any of it…
Another time a baby who was dropped off just reeking of weed. She was asleep and when she woke up, she was completely out of it. My boss claimed we had no evidence with which to call CPS but my coworker and I knew that was nonsense so we called anyway. The baby’s grandma rushed in a few hours later and picked her up, we never saw that family again. My coworker and I were written up for ‘not following protocols.’ By the way, this was at one of the largest chain daycares in the US.”
A Lot Of Pent Up Anger
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“I had a six-year-old sit at the table next to me and we start talking about different fish in the world. His parents were divorced and they have split custody, he and his sister only come part-time. So I grab my phone and we look up different tropical fish and whatnot.
After a bit, he tells me he only likes his mom and sister, hates his dad, stepmom, and stepbrother. Talks about how he is going to light his dad’s house on fire with the people he hates still in it.
I told his stepmom about it when she came to pick him up. He went to therapy for a while.
His real mom gets a new live-in boyfriend every month or so. Apparently one has given him swirlies a few times and another was a convicted child assaulter. The dad reports this to CPS but they never do anything about it.”
A Very Odd Thing To Say
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“An older girl, around 9 who was an only child as far as we knew, was leaving the gym daycare with her mom. She mentioned something about siblings – I can’t remember exactly what – then things suddenly felt very tense. A moment of silence. Then she blurted out, ‘My mom sold my brother!’ in a laughing matter. Then the mom got very still, started nervously laughing, put her hand over her daughter’s mouth while they were both laughing, and then they backed up, kept our eye contact, tiptoeing all the way backwards through the door. They never came back to our gym again. I still have no idea what the heck was going on. They seemed nice and ‘normal’ before.”
Parents Dodging The Law
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“My mom is a daycare provider, and a 3-year-old once told her that the police came to his house and his dad’s girlfriend made everyone hide under the bed. At first, she thought maybe it was a game they were playing, but he continued to tell her how scared he was when it happened. His dad and dad’s girlfriend were arrested not long after on substance charges.”
The Brutal, Honest Truth
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“For a while, I was a behavioral therapist for children with Autism. I worked with one little girl all year, even at summer camp. Now, of course, kids love talking to the random adults around camp, and as my girl’s class was walking to the pool, another little girl asks if she could please hold my hand. I say of course and compliment her on her manners, and that her mommy and daddy must be proud. She replied, ‘Oh, it’s just my daddy. Mommy got on a plane and never came back.’ And then began talking about how excited she was for the pool.
Another time, I overheard a little girl play with a phone and say, ‘Hold on, it’s my baby daddy.’ She was four.
I work in Social Work with adults now, but it was so sad to hear crazy things from the little ones, and realize what must be going on at home. Most kids who said those shocking things were in the system.”
Maybe It Was A Misunderstanding
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“One of my 3-year-old kids told me that she had another sister. I knew she only had an older brother so I asked if mommy was having another baby. She shook her head and said that daddy put her little sister in a cold lake and never got her. I felt my heart drop and asked her to repeat what she said to the teachers. She did and we ended up having to get the managers and call someone. They did an investigation into her parents and home life and they found nothing, parents claimed she had seen something similar on a horror movie her big brother let her watch.
Even though she moved out of my classroom, I still can’t look at her the same.”
Handling An Abused Child
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“It was really heartbreaking, but I was told by a three-year-old that ‘mommy’s friend who is a boy that lives with them,’ had been touching her. The nature of the preschool was one where we served lots of families who had been referred to us by DHS. I ended up filing a report and the family got service and support but it was really hard to hold it together while she was graphically describing being abused without realizing what it was or why it was wrong. I had to suck it up and remain calm and stoic for the remainder of my shift.”
The Bad Black Man
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“We had a family from Texas move to the daycare I worked at in Illinois. The boy would try and tell us stories but we never could fully get all the details for it to make sense. It would usually go like this:
Boy: ‘You know who’s bad?’
Me: ‘Who is bad?
Boy: The black man.’
Me: ‘Who?
Boy: The black man is bad. He hurts people.’
Me: ‘What man? Why does he hurt people?’
Boy: ‘The black man. He’s scary.’
After a few weeks of this (the boy was the one to always bring the ‘black man’ topic up), I finally was able to discover that the black man was Darth Vader. I had assumed that perhaps this Southern family had a streak of racism but it just turned out I was prejudiced against Southerners.”
Sometimes It’s Nothing
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“My grandma owns a home daycare, and a female toddler that she babysat decided to try and pull down a male toddlers pants and ‘kiss his pee pee.’ My grandma immediately asked her where she learned that, and she said ‘my daddy.’ My grandma reported it and an investigation was done, and her family was actually very grateful that she did it. Even her dad. An investigation was done and they found nothing wrong and the parents 100% cooperated. Kids sometimes just say odd things, but they were glad to know that my grandma takes those sorts of things seriously. So I guess it’s not a ‘family secret,’ but my grandma certainly thought it could have been at the time.”
Another Sad Case Of A Bad Father
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“My girlfriend works at a daycare and just this week had a three-year-old girl speak about how she was worried for her mother. After pressing a bit, the girl explains to my GF that her ‘daddy is a bad man’ and that her mother had been hurt somehow (obviously my girlfriend stopped at this point and got her supervisor). Turns out sadly the father had been abusing the mother and now he’s not allowed to pick her up from the daycare. I believe he’s still in partial custody which is pretty messed up considering the evidence of abuse.”
A Violent Mother
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“I had a student in my class, age 3, who was constantly dropped off by his barefoot mom without any underwear. Granted, he was completely potty-trained so it wasn’t a huge deal and I just figured they were hippies.
So one day, we’re coloring and talking about superheroes and punching comes up.
‘My mommy punches me.’
To which I responded, ‘You mean like this?’ and I gave him a light friendly nudge like, ‘Hey you!’
He shook his head. ‘No like this.’ And he SLAMMED his fist down on the table.
I told him that it was a good thing he told me, then I asked for a substitute to take a ‘potty time’ (which was our code for ‘I need help from a senior employee’). My manager met me in the front office and we filed a complaint with the CPS. Unfortunately, I gave birth about a week later and never returned, so I don’t know what became of him “
Not Part Of The Job Description
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“Not a daycare worker, but…
I used to have a tax practice. A client came into my office to drop off his tax paperwork with his five kids (ages 3-10) in tow. He said he needed to go run an errand and left, leaving the kids in my office for me to babysit while I worked on his taxes.
The kids were shy, quiet and well behaved, but the youngest finally started a conversation with me:
‘My daddy hits my mommy.'”
The Child Of A Jailbird Sings
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“We had a little boy proudly announce that his mother went to jail. We’d obviously met both his parents and they seemed like decent, well put together people.
I went home and looked online and sure enough, the kid was telling the truth, the mom was being charged with aggravated assault.”
The Trauma Of A Witness
“I dated a girl with 2 kids. I was watching them while she went to the doctor. She had a serious medical problem and she wanted the kids to not be there and see her all stressed out. Was watching Toy Story with her 3-year-old daughter. I guess the daughter started understanding that her mom and I are more than friends. She said, ‘Would you hit momma?’
I was shocked and I said, ‘Of course not! What put that idea in your head?’ And she teared up and said, ‘My daddy used to hit her,’ and she started crying.
I just did my best. I explained to her that I would never hurt any of them and how people who love each other should behave and that her dad had a sickness that caused him to act strangely (he was an addict.) I got her a popsicle and she calmed down as Buzz Lightyear and Woody were flying into the car. I was aware that their dad hit their mom, but I didn’t know the daughter witnessed it or would even remember.”
A Terrifying Moment For Everyone Ends Parents In Jail
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“There was a little girl and boy, about 3 and 1. They were in foster care and had great foster parents. They would get picked up about once a week by a social worker and taken to their parents for visits.
One time when they came back from the first unsupervised visit, the little 1-year-old started breathing really heavy and raspy and then all the sudden barely breathing at all, we think maybe an allergic reaction to something? Of course, we call an ambulance. Then, not even 10 minutes later, it happens to the little 3-year-old, but she starts throwing up too and then not being able to breathe. So we’re all like heck is going on?!
The social worker goes to the hospital with the kids and calls later the let us know what is going on. Turns out the real parents poisoned both of the kids. They turned out okay, the little boy had a lot more in his system and was in the hospital for a few months, but overall, everything went back to normal. Needless to say, the parents went to prison. Their reason for doing it was because if they couldn’t have them then no one else was raising them. Which made no sense because they were fairly close to getting them back. You never know how terrible some parents can be until you work in childcare.”