27 Childcare Workers Are Sharing The Parent Horror Stories That Left Them Absolutely Speechless
Working with children isn't easy, and these parents definitely made it harder. We asked current and former childcare workers in the BuzzFeed Community to share the most outlandish things a parent has said or done, and it's...a lot. Buckle in — here are some of the most shocking parent horror stories we received:
1."We had a kid who was severely allergic to peanuts. He really liked peanut butter cups, though, so his parents would give them to him with an EpiPen. They did this repeatedly. It was like they didn't realize that the effectiveness would wear off over time, or that the shot might not work, and he could die!"
—Anonymous
2."I am a daycare worker, and I had a child who was physically hurting other kids. I set up a meeting with his mother, and she actually said, 'You're the one taking care of this kid during daycare, not me. What happens in daycare isn't my responsibility.' Seriously?!"
—Anonymous
3."I was pregnant while working with toddlers who were 18–36 months. A parent was dropping off their child, and the child looked at my stomach, ran at me full force, and shoved me over by pushing my pregnant belly. I was horrified. The parent said, 'Well, maybe you aren't meant to be a mom if you can't take a hit like that!'"
—Anonymous
4."I'm an infant and toddler teacher with over 20 years in the industry. Many years ago, a mom asked how her son had been that day. When I told her that he was a bit fussy but otherwise okay, she replied with, 'Yeah, he had a fever yesterday, so I put Tylenol in all of his bottles.' I was mortified. When I told her that she couldn't do that and that she had to keep the baby home if he was sick, she complained about me to the director (who backed me up)."
—Cathy, 46, New Jersey
5."A family donated a hamster to our pre-K classroom while their daughter was enrolled. The daughter went to kindergarten, and a few years later, the hamster died (as they do). We had helped the current pre-K kids get through the situation. Well, the family who had given the hamster to our class showed up to visit, learned that the hamster had died, and wanted us to DIG UP THE BODY so they could re-bury it at their house. We declined, saying that the kids would be upset, but they insisted that since they had given the hamster to the school, the hamster was theirs. We held our ground, and the hamster was able to stay in the ground."
—Anonymous
6."I once nannied for a family with five kids and nine pets. They had six nannies who would take shifts two at a time around the clock so that the parents never had to be with or take care of their own kids. There were lots of things about that family that were off, but the biggest problem was that they allowed their children to pee and defecate anywhere in the house, and it was our job (the nannies) to clean it up."
"This was totally normal for them. The oldest child was 6 years old and learning how to potty train. She asked me to come wipe her one day, and I was horrified. Apparently, the parents expected us to do that as well. I made the executive decision to instead coach her through wiping herself, because she certainly was old enough and more than capable. The mom got so upset at me for not wiping her daughter that I was fired the next day. In retrospect, she did us both a favor."
—makennamarx5532
7."We sent a kid home with a fever. When the mom showed up to pick him up, she pulled out her own thermometer, claiming ours didn't work, and that we were just 'faking it.' Right, because we can clearly fake multiple thermometers detecting a fever."
—ashleylg817
8."I'm a first-grade teacher. I'm a size 22 and have been plus-size for basically my whole life. Many parents have definitely made microaggressions toward me, or have been nervous for their kids to have a plus-size teacher due to internalized fatphobia. Despite my size, I'm a great teacher and can keep up with my class of 20+ 6–7-year-olds. There was one parent who made me cry, though. First, she demanded that her child be removed from my class because she thought my weight was a 'safety concern.' What if I fell on a kid and crushed them? Or what if my weight prevents me from moving fast enough in a crisis? Well, I was the only teacher certified to have a gifted class at my school, so that parent's gifted daughter had to be in my class in order for her to receive enrichment services."
"This mom also LOVED to mention weight-loss drugs, gym memberships, and diets to me, which I always turned down and tried to ignore. The worst of it, though, was when I found out that my bloodwork indicated that I may have a form of chronic leukemia. Obviously, my principal worked with me to send out a letter to families letting them know that I'd be out of school fairly often while we did the lab work and I was sorting out getting the official diagnosis. Most of my students and their families were devastated and were very supportive during this tough time. Not the fat-shaming mom. She told me, 'Well, there's a silver lining in this! You'll probably finally lose a bunch of weight now!' Thankfully, I turned out not to have leukemia, and my principal agreed to be there for every interaction with that mother after that awful comment."
—Gemma, Virginia, 25
9."I was a go-to babysitter for a family a few years back. The thing is, I never felt like I was babysitting. No matter what time of day I was coming over, the mom made the kids go to bed. Three p.m.? Doesn't matter, they're in bed. And I was told to get on them if they got up (I never did, though, and always offered to play with them or watch shows)."
—Anonymous
10."Had one mom get mad at me because I brought her kid to the bus stop to pick up other kids. It was cold out and raining. The mom knew we did bus runs and sent her kid in the thinnest coat possible. But it's my fault she got wet. Same mom was mad that I didn't supply diapers and wipes, and when her kid got a heat rash in the hottest summer ever, she accused me of giving her kid a skin disease. I have rosacea, and it's not contagious."
—tmc02377
11."I had a toddler who was brought into the center with what the parents told us was a cat bite on her hand. She favored the hand and cried if it got bumped or when she had to use it. The next time she was brought back (two days later), the hand was red, enormously swollen, and very obviously painful."
"We called the parents and told them she needed to be picked up. Mind you, the mom worked in some medical profession. When they brought her back the next day, they said she had such a bad infection in that hand that a special antibiotic had to be driven in by a pharmacy 50 miles away. Imagine what would have happened had they continued to ignore this infection?!"
—Anonymous
12."I had an infant who was not using her arm and was clearly in pain and distress. We called the mom who said, 'Yeah. She hurt her arm in her crib two days ago.' We told her she was unable to use that arm and was in obvious pain. She said she could not be there for another two hours. She finally picked her baby up and told us the next day that the baby's shoulder was out of the socket."
—Anonymous
13."When the dads tell us, 'Mom doesn't like the baby at home.'"
—pinkjadeybug
14."Our daycare only watched 3-month-olds to 5-year-olds. There was one toddler who would punch, push, and sometimes even bite all the other children. We tried asking the mother to talk to/discipline her son, or we couldn't watch him anymore, as it turned into a liability since he was hurting other children. The mother was adamant that her son would never do anything bad."
"So, one day, it was the same song and dance:
Us: 'Your son hit again today.'
Her: 'What? No, my son would never!' But this time, she picked up her little 4-year-old and started baby-talking to him. 'You would never hit, would you? You are the sweetest thing. You would never hit!'
And what did her son do? He slapped her so hard across the face that her head snapped back. Then, she denied to our face that he hit her, even though we just witnessed it!"
—shortfatproudofthat
15."One white mom used to drop her kid off, and every morning (this was just after the movie The Help came out), she would set her son down and talk in an over-exaggerated 'blaccent' to her son and say, 'What is you? You is kiiind…you is smaaaaaart...you is haaaaaandsome…you is stroooong. What else is you?' And she'd list off the wonderful things her son was for nearly five minutes straight."
—shortfatproudofthat
16."Not me, but my mom. The general audacity of folks, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown, who brought children to daycare when they clearly were not working and put my 60-year-old immunocompromised mother at risk, was wild. On top of that, add in parents who deliberately brought in children who were sick (some of whom they KNEW had COVID) so they could get a break at home. It truly makes my blood boil."
"In the midst of this, I had a friend who was furloughed but proudly told me how she was still bringing her 2-year-old to daycare at the height of COVID so that she could DIY her new home. All I could think of were the women (like my mother) who were risking their lives to care for my friend's child while she did crafts all day in an empty house. Needless to say, we don't talk much these days."
—34-year-old, Northeast
17."I babysat for a family, and the mom told me that if the three kids got in the pool, that would count as their shower/bath time."
—Anonymous
18."Once, we had a new little girl in our group, and her mom brought her in on the first day. The little girl started playing, and all seemed well, but as the mom was leaving, she stopped and told us that she 'really prefers it if her daughter doesn't walk.'"
"After a short, confused silence, she clarified that when moving from one activity to another, or going to the bathroom or on outings or whenever movement was required, she wanted us to carry her daughter because she didn't want her to have to walk on her own. The little girl was 4 years old and clearly capable and happy to move around on her own. That was an odd encounter that has stuck in my memory."
—kittyminkie88
19."There was a mom who cursed me out for telling her, per policy, that I couldn't put sugar in her child's milk and food. She withdrew her child immediately the next day."
—Anonymous
20."I worked as a pre-K teacher for five years. In my five years, I became close to what I thought was the perfect family — an amazing mom and dad, and two really sweet and smart boys. I had both kids in my classroom at one point or another, and always greeted the family in the morning and made small talk. One morning, the boys are being dropped off with me, and the dad starts openly hitting on me in front of his kids and my entire class."
"He made comments like: 'I bet you bring the sunshine wherever you go,' 'I love seeing you smile each day,' and 'You're the boys' best part of the day...and mine.' He said all of this while eye-banging me. I felt so uncomfortable; all I did was laugh and shuffle his kids into my room. A few weeks later, the mom of the boys asked to speak to me privately. Turns out, the dad had been cheating on her for years! I was in shock — they truly seemed like the perfect couple. I guess you never know what goes on behind closed doors."
—Anonymous
21."I'm a former preschool teacher. A mom asked if she could bring in CBD gummies for us to give to her 3-year-old when she threw tantrums."
—Anonymous
22."The one that left me completely dumbfounded was when the mom, whose baby was a month younger than mine, asked me how I kept her baby's diaper on if she wasn't wearing a onesie. I (and the co-teacher) just stared at her for several seconds until we realized she was serious. I have seen and heard a lot in my 15 years in childcare, but that one actually made my mouth hang open! All I said was, 'Um, I don't know. I use a diaper that fits.' Bless her heart, she didn't think the diaper would stay on if the baby didn't always wear a onesie. The best part is that this was her second child!"
—mister_nanda
23."I had a mom get upset because I allowed her 1-year-old to hold their own bottle rather than holding it for them."
—antibeingkilled
24."I had a child who was sick. We called the mother, and she said, 'Do we have to come right now? We're enjoying our alone time.'"
—Anonymous
25."I had a boy in my class from a divorced family. When he'd come back from spending the weekend with his dad, he'd gotten a new Black Panther action figure. This little man absolutely loved this action figure — he begged me to let him sleep with it during nap time and even had snack time with it. The day went on, and it was time for him to get picked up. His mom walked into my class and saw her son holding the Black Panther. Out loud, she made an Ugh sound."
"At first, I just assumed it was because her son got another new toy. But she looked at me and said, 'I just don't understand why THEY need their own superhero. I'm part Native American,' — she was not — 'and I'm not looking for an Indian hero. Why do the Blacks need one?' I was shook! How did she think that was appropriate to say in front of children and me? Just because I am a white person doesn't mean I agree with racist comments. I simply looked at her and said, with a very condescending smile, 'Well, some people think representation matters.' She gave me a huge eye roll and left with her son."
—Anonymous
26."I worked for an affluent family in the Bay Area that had four children for nearly four years in my early 20s. On top of taking care of their children, I was in charge of all the housework, like errands, laundry, etc. With laundry, I would scan the floors of each room as needed, pick up the clothes, and go on about my work. I can't believe I am typing this, but the mom used to leave her period-stained underwear on the ground of her bedroom, and I would pick it up!"
"Also, more than once, I found tampons that you could tell had been used and pulled out strewn on the floor alongside their bed. Honestly, I never thought twice about cleaning it up. As a mom myself and in my 30s now, I can't believe they were so dirty and careless, and how it did not faze me in the slightest because it was my job."
—Anonymous
27.Lastly: "Daycare teacher here. I had a parent come to me during group bathroom time and start the conversation with, 'Hey, I meant to talk to you about this earlier...but do you remember two weeks ago if [child] pooped at school that day?' Ma'am, I don't even remember yesterday — no, I don't know if your child pooped two weeks ago?!?"
"She was asking because she thought the kiddo ate a coin, so they'd ended up at the ER to check, but nothing had shown up on the X-ray. So, she wanted to see if I'd seen a coin in the kid's poop, and if I could keep checking the poop to see if one came out! No. I am not looking through poop. What?!? We get paid starting at $12/hr...I'm not digging through the poop of 4 and 5-year-olds."
—Anonymous
If you're a childcare worker or have worked with children, do you have any other parent horror stories you want to share? Let it all out in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below! Don't worry, we're here for ya.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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