Dear Urban Diplomat: should I worry about my daycare worker’s outburst?

Dear Urban Diplomat,

Our experience with the staff at my son’s daycare has been very positive. But recently, I went to pick him up during nap time, quietly opened the door and saw one of the caregivers angrily bark, “GO TO SLEEP!” at another toddler. Then she saw me and put on a happy face. This woman has always been super-nice to our family, but I’m alarmed that she’d get so visibly enraged on the job. Should I report her to the higher-ups?

—Toddler Tattler, Brampton

It’s naïve—and unfair—to expect perma-smiles from daycare employees; I’ve heard some say the job is the most effective form of birth control. Still, you’d hope that a pro wouldn’t resort to taking a page from the Go the Fuck to Sleep playbook. As legislated by the Day Nurseries Act, the province forbids “verbal punishment or any deliberately harsh or degrading measures that would humiliate a child.” Does what you saw qualify? Maybe, maybe not. I think tending to a roomful of screeching toddlers should be on the CIA’s list of approved tortures, so I’d cut the chiding childminder some slack this one time. But if you just can’t let it slide, tell her supervisor what you saw without exaggeration, and let the boss decide if it warrants intervention.

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