​Welcome to the very first episode of our new series, Sandbox Confessionals (aka Crisis in the Sandbox). This week, we are pausing our financial transparency series to dive deep into the raw, unspoken realities of working in Early Childhood Education.

​In this episode, we share the true story of "Dani," a former toddler teacher in Colorado who reached out to us after leaving a center plagued by severe licensing violations, emotional abuse of children, and direct workplace retaliation. To protect her identity, we are sharing her story anonymously-but the violations she experienced are a reality for far too many educators.

• ​The Reality of Crowd Control: What happens when a legal 1:5 toddler ratio stretches to an unsafe 1:11.
• ​Institutional Betrayal: How directors protect abusive, long-term staff members and reframe internal documentation as "hostile."
• ​The Broken Licensing System: Why underfunded state agencies allow bad actors to run out the clock.
• ​ECE Trauma Bonding: A candid conversation on how centers use teachers' love for the kids as leverage to keep them silent.

​If you see something wrong at your center, vague complaints won't cut it. Here is the exact blueprint discussed in today’s episode to protect yourself and the children:

1. ​Document in Real Time: Do not rely on memory. Record the exact date, time, direct quotes, and witnesses in a timestamped notes app or email to yourself.
2. ​Create a Paper Trail: Always follow up phone calls to licensing with a written email. Demand a case number.
3. ​File with Multiple Agencies: Report both to state childcare licensing and your local Child Protective Services (CPS) hotline-they operate on different thresholds.
4. ​Contact your Local CCR&R: Child Care Resource and Referral agencies carry institutional weight that individual complaints often lack.
5. ​Involve the Labor Board: If you face sudden write-ups or termination after reporting, file a retaliation claim immediately.
6. ​Inform the Parents: Facts speak louder than rumors. When parents know the truth, enrollments drop-and that gets management's attention.
7. ​Remember Your Mandated Reporter Status: Your legal threshold is reasonable suspicion, not absolute proof. Protect the kids first, and sort out the rest later.

​Have a "Crisis in the Sandbox" story of your own? Or some wild "ECE After Dark" admin/parent drama you need to get off your chest? Our inbox is completely open, safe, and anonymous.

• ​Email/SpeakPipe: [Insert Link]
• ​Follow the Show: Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to help us expose the cracks in the system and protect ECE professionals!

Would you charge parents 6 cents a minute for tuition? Retired University Director Ida Bauer joins the ECE Unhinged podcast to talk about her career and how she built a center from the ground up.

This week on Teachers After Dark, Crystal and I are diving into the hilarious, bizarre, and downright unhinged world of toddler logic. We aren't talking about typical classroom management here; we're talking about the moment a child has a full-blown meltdown because their grilled cheese was cut into squares instead of triangles.

​If you've ever felt like you were negotiating with a tiny, unreasonable terrorist when all you wanted was for them to eat their lunch, this is the episode for you. We’re unpacking those "unsolicited confessions" about their parents' habits, why they think the shower is a human car wash, and how we keep it together when the "laws of logic" are completely suspended.

​Grab a drink and join us for the unfiltered, behind-the-scenes stories we usually only share with each other.

​#ECEUnhinged #TeachersAfterDark #ToddlerLogic #EarlyChildhoodEducation #UnhingedMedia