My babysitter stayed for dinner last night, because she has a weakness for the mashed potatoes from Boston Market. During the meal, she talked about her experience working for a major daycare chain in New Jersey. She said that she was placed in a room with 10 two years olds by herself for the whole day. 1:10 is the ratio mandated by NJ's licensing standards.

However, the babysitter said that ten two-year olds is too much for one person. She said that all she could manage was changing diapers, feeding them meals, and taking them out to the playground. She spent so much time in the bathroom changing diapers that she was unable to monitor the kids left in the classroom. Some kids would be scaling the bookshelves, when she was in the bathroom and that she couldn't console the kids who cried. She was utterly burnt out by the end of the day and depressed from the isolation.

Someone once asked me what bad childcare looked like. Exhibit A.

UPDATE: Here's the breakdown by state of daycare ratios. Turns out NJ is one of the worst. It is tied with Kentucky.