25 Shocking Family Secrets Exposed By Toddlers In Daycare

Educators and childcare workers not only juggle academics, games, and naps, but they also manage kids’ emotions. As a result, teachers and caregivers often hear unexpectedly revealing comments from kids about their families. We like to believe our children know not to repeat what’s said at home, but likely, they haven’t yet learned such boundaries. This topic came up in a recent online discussion when a Reddit user asked, “Daycare workers of Reddit! What is the most shocking family secret you have been told by a three-year-old?” The post received over 3,000 responses. We’ve picked out some of the most eye-opening stories shared in the thread and included them below in our gallery.

#1

Image source: obsolete16, Levi Meir Clancy / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I teach two year olds, and we were asking the kids what their parents’ names were, just to see if they knew. I asked a little boy, “What’s mommy’s name?” He says, “Michelle.” Then I asked “What’s daddy’s name?” And he looks confused, as if he’s trying to figure out the answer, but can’t. So I ask, “What does Mommy call Daddy?” Assuming he would say John, instead he looked up at me and says, “Big Papa.” I couldn’t help but bust out laughing.

#2

Image source: lulastark, Onur Burak Akın / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I once had CPS called on my parents because I told my daycare worker "there was nothing to eat and I was starving". True story was my mom hadn't had time to get groceries and asked my dad to go before I left for daycare saying something like "could you pick up the groceries, I don't want her to starve for another day tomorrow". I actually had breakfast that morning but not the usual and refused to eat it all. I never saw my mom so embarrassed ever again.

#3

Image source: SpencerLass, Brooke Cagle / Unsplash (not the actual photo) With a group of 3 year olds we were coloring paper ties for Father’s Day and talking about what their dads liked to do. As the kids were calling out their dads’ hobbies, one little girl had an epiphany. She gasped and shouted in excitement, “I have a dad!” She had recently been adopted by her foster parents.

#4

Image source: SomeEpicUserNameIDK, Tadeusz Lakota / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I had a 3 year old come to class with little red circles on his arms, legs, and back after spending the week with his dad. He told me that daddy burns him with his hot smelly sticks when he was mad...dad was burning the kid with cigarettes, definitely got CPS involved.

#5

Image source: Korsola, Sincerely Media / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I once had a little girl tell me she saw "daddy licking mommy like a doggy." That was hilarious and awkward. There were a handful of really sad cases where children would disclose neglect or "mistreatment". 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. 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 incredibly good memory for that kind of stuff.

#6

Image source: stew_face, Steven Thompson / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I had a 3 year old rat his dad out for domestic violence. He said his dad broke glass when he threw it at his mommy. There were other red flags with this child so this story was alarming. When I approached the mom she confessed it all and we were able to help her get the help she needed.

#7

Image source: susieeQT, freepik (not the actual photo) Not super shocking, but one of my 4-year-olds’ parents recently divorced. Mom married a new guy and just had a baby with him, and Dad is dating a new lady that the little girl doesn’t like very much. It’s amazing the things kids pick up on, and will tell anyone who listens. She has told me that Daddy and Mommy aren’t together anymore, because “Daddy used to give Mommy bruises and push her.” It’s incredibly sad to hear this sweet little girl say these things, because I can tell she doesn’t fully understand everything.

#8

Image source: RicoDredd When my son was 3 I bought my wife ‘Titanic’ on video - yes, it was a long time ago - for her birthday. He asked if he could watch it after nursery school. We said that it wasn’t really a film for children, it was a film for grown ups, like mummy and daddy. When I picked him up later his nursery teacher was stifling her laughter as he had been telling everyone all day that it was his mummy’s birthday that day and that daddy had bought mummy a special video that only mummies and daddies could watch....

#9

Image source: hekkamekka, Roman Vsugon / Unsplash (not the actual photo) Finally, something I can answer! First off, kids say a LOT more than parents would probably like to know. Ive had kids who were playing barbies and one of the" mom" barbies started yelling at the "child" barbies [stuff] like "I wish you were never born! I hate you! I wish i had never carried you" etc. 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.

#10

Image source: Benglassco, Iulia Mihailov / Unsplash (not the actual photo) My preschool teacher carefully approached my mom after school one day to talk about adult education. My mother, confused, didn’t know what she was referring to. The teacher persisted that there were many programs available for my father to learn how to read. My dad is a well educated finance manager, but above all, a lazy one. Apparently the day before we were assigned to ask our fathers to read a story to us. My dad, nicknamed “Roger the Dodger”, sincerely told his first born son he couldn’t read. When I was asked at school what story my dad read me I declared my father was illiterate. Unfortunately this plan obviously backfired for my dear father.

#11

Image source: MissFuzzums, Alexander Dummer / Unsplash (not the actual photo) So I worked in a day nursery for about 4 or so years, and I will never forget the day they a 3 year old outted her mum and dad for having a swing in their bedroom by drawing a pretty graphic picture of the swing and her “mummy” laying back in it and daddy kneeling down in front of her. We reported it to management because of policies and procedures but my lord......I had to leave the room and laugh before I imploded. The same child maybe 3 or 4 days later pipes up during a conversation about religion (it was around Christmas time so we were covering what religions have what festival/gods etc) she announces that her mummy loves god very much and prays to him a lot at night. Without even thinking we asked how does she pray...she responded with making moans and saying “oh my god, oh god oh god oh god, yes I am so close” and that she thought it was sweet she felt so close to god. I miss this kid.

#12

Image source: CouldBeWorseCouldBeA, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo) Had a very troubled little girl who was already taken away from her parents and living with the dubious grandparents. She came in one day with a sizeable wound on her head, nearly hidden under a hair band. I was doing one to one work with her in the garden when I notice it and ask what happened. She tells me off-hand that granny got angry and threw a toy car. Followed protocol, reported it, and then it was out of my hands. I wish it was the only thing that I needed to report with her, poor kid.

#13

Image source: lcook116, wirestock / freepik (not the actual photo) Teaching community helpers and showed the kids handcuffs. Little girl from a really strict muslim family says "mommy put those on Daddy last night and then Daddy took off his pants".

#14

Image source: usernames_r_stoopid, freepik (not the actual photo) 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 a****t.) 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 didnt know the daughter witnessed it or would even remember.

#15

Image source: SmootherThanAStorm, pvproductions / freepik (not the actual photo) When I was a preschool teacher, we got a new student who would describe her home life to us often. One time she told a story that basically translated to her mom clogging the toilet and her dad struggling to unclog it. She would tell us so much about her home life, we even warned her mom be careful because she would repeat EVERYTHING she sees.

#16

Image source: SSVNormandySR1, freepik (not the actual photo) Bit late to the party, but I once had a boy tell me about how "mommy keeps kissing godfather in the mouth when daddy isn't home". I got really awkward when she came to pick him up.

#17

Image source: NorthernMunkey8, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I’ve worked as a sports coach for kids aged 5-11ish for years. One summer I was working at holiday club/camp we ran during the school holidays, walking around the field refereeing a game of football (soccer), and this girl and her mate come running up to me (they weren’t interested in playing football, or any sport for that matter really, just wanted a chat).. Little girl: “my daddy wears earrings” (while looking at my pierced ears) “Oh does he?” Little girl: “yeah and sometimes he wears mummy’s dresses too” “Oh right” Little girl: “and her shoes!” “Does he?” Little girl: “yeah! My daddy’s a pretty girl!” then skipped off to follow the football around a little more.

#18

Image source: Chupacabraonfire, freepik (not the actual photo) Not a daycare worker but I've done a lot of babysitting. When I was 15 I watched a 7 year old whose mother worked with mine. Mom was a secretary and the little girl's mom was an APRN. I liked the kid, she was a smart girl, and I liked her mom. Anyway one day the girl tells me that her mom's name isn't her real name. That she made it up "for work" and it was like having a new mommy. I had no idea what that meant so I tried to ask more questions but didn't get very far as I don't think the little girl really had any idea what was actually going on. She did tell me her mom's "real" name though, so I asked my mom about it. She didn't know either. She was curious so she asked a couple people at work. Turns out the woman I was babysitting for had somehow faked EVERYTHING -- her name, identification, degree, work history. She was not an APRN. She had no degree. Her real name was not the name she had given. It was crazy. Nobody has any idea how she did it, how she managed to fake her way through that job with no training. The office they worked at was a fairly large and well respected office in CT. She was obviously fired and I no longer had my babysitting job.

#19

Image source: PoppinPuddinPops, Amaury Gutierrez / Unsplash (not the actual photo) My brother went to school the day after my parents told my siblings they were pregnant with me and asked the school to pray that our mom wasn’t actually pregnant.

#20

Image source: anon, Ian Talmacs / Unsplash (not the actual photo) Wife runs one. Had a day off from work and a six year old sits 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, step mom, and step brother. 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 step mom 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 m**ester. The dad reports this s**t to CPS but they never do anything about it.

#21

Image source: DONT_PM_ME_B, EyeEm / freepik (not the actual photo) The daycare people knew we were trying for baby number two because an ovulation test sticker got stuck on (soon to be) older brothers shoe.

#22

Image source: Liverberg, Kateryna Hliznitsova / Unsplash (not the actual photo) Always remember when my little sister was in reception (about 3/4 yrs old), It was her first parents evening and the teacher said to my dad 'ah lovely to meet you, We've learnt a lot about You.' She then showed my mum and dad a picture my sister had drew of him with the writing 'My dad and his big tail.' Dad was mortified, and we never let my sister live it down.

#23

Image source: StormMoriarty, Mpho Maponyane / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I was a nanny and one time the 3 year old asked me, out of the blue, “why do daddy and mommy always go ‘uuuhhhhh’ (clearly sexual noises) after bedtime?” I just burst out laughing and said that maybe they are working out.

#24

Image source: dahaoab, Thomas Martinsen / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I used to do ABA therapy with little kids who have ASD. With one kid, we were doing some pretend play. We were playing restaurant, and I was the waiter while the kid was the customer. I asked her what she wanted to order, and she ordered the pasta. I asked her if she wanted to have a drink with that, maybe some water or a juice? She said "oh I'm the mummy so I'll have the white wine, please!" Terribly cute and got a little blush out of the girl's mum when I told her later on.

#25

Image source: SheWhoComesFirst, Sonder Quest / Unsplash (not the actual photo) I asked this question to my son’s preschool teacher one day. She said one day it was story time and all the kids were sitting in a circle on the reading rug. She was reading them a book about animals and the sounds each one makes. An owl comes up and none of them know it, so she says “It’s an owl and it makes the sound Whooo! Whoooo!” A kid decided to share “Oh! My mom makes that noise when Mom and Dad are having private time in their room!”