PODCAST · education
ECE Unhinged
by Brittany and Crystal
ECE UNHINGED - A Podcast for Today's Early Childhood Educator: Real stories, raw conversations and a little chaos from todays early childhood educators. We talk about burnout, behavior and the joys of teaching small humans-- honesty and off the rails conversations guaranteed, and as a bonus we are doing this from the comfort of our car and the view of the mountains. So ride along with us for an amazing journey ahead! 😂 Next episode drops Wednesday, January 7, 2026:Funny, real classroom stories submitted by educators — the moments you couldn’t make up if you tried
Episodes
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UPK_ The Rabbit Hole Continues!
Colorado UPK sounds simple until you try to make it work in a real classroom. The 15-hour week, the hidden assessments, the confusing enrollment process, and the IEP roadblocks reveal a system that is far more complicated, and far more frustrating, than most parents or teachers realize.Brittany...
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Colorado UPK- The UPK Rabbit Hole Part 2- Follow the Money
This episode discusses Colorado UPK, CCCAP, childcare funding, and provider economics based on publicly available information and our experiences working in early childhood education. Program rules, funding levels, eligibility, and enrollment policies can change, and individual counties may...
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Colorado UPK- The Preschool Rabbit Hole Part 1
Colorado’s Universal Preschool (UPK) program sounded simple… until we started digging. In Part 1 of our UPK rabbit hole, we break down how the program works, who qualifies, the two major legal challenges surrounding UPK, and what Colorado’s own evaluation says about access, quality, teacher...
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The Boss's Husband Is NOT Your Boss! | When Nepotism Takes Over the Classroom
What happens when the director's husband suddenly becomes your “assistant director” — and starts showing up late, taking hour-long lunches, micromanaging classrooms, and undermining teachers in front of children? In this episode of ECE Unhinged, we're diving into a wild Sandbox Confessional about...
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We're Not Burned Out… We're Grieving | ECE Hot Takes After Dark
Is ECE burnout actually burnout… or are we grieving the career we thought we were going to have? In this episode of Teachers After Dark, Brittany and Crystal dive into a pile of unpopular opinions, hot takes, frustrations, and uncomfortable truths from the early childhood education field. We talk...
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Licensing Says What? - The Crazy things licensing has us do
Join us for our teachers after dark as we talk about some of the wild and crazy things licensing makes us do!
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The Shocking Truth About Where ECE Money Really Goes
Unlock the hidden costs and surprising truths behind running a childcare center — from sky-high rent and razor-thin profit margins to mind-blowing innovations like AI teachers. If you're contemplating opening your own facility or are simply curious about what really happens behind the scenes…
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Are You Going to Heaven? (And Other Toddler Confessions)
Grab your coffee—or whatever you need to survive drop-off—and join Brittany and Crystal as they dive into the wildly hilarious, completely unhinged side of early childhood education. In this episode of Teachers After Dark, the duo swaps real stories submitted by educators, from innocent (and...
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Talking WIth Tashia~ Is in home care more profitable for ECE professionals?
In this episode of ECE Unhinged, we return to our wage transparency series with a perspective we have not covered yet: an in-home childcare provider. Tashia Lush joins us from Illinois to share how she went from working as a teacher and director in childcare centers to opening a licensed program…
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For Those Reasons, I'm Out! Teacher Shark tank
Most teachers dream of inventions that could revolutionize childcare but what if some ideas are better left uninvested? On this playful episode of Teachers After Dark, we turn the spotlight on hilarious yet insightful "Shark Tank" style pitches, from toddler translators to self cleaning diaper...
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The Cost Of Caring
The hidden cost of caring: why early childhood educators are worth so much more than their paycheckWhat if everything you thought you knew about your worth as an ECE teacher is backwards? Despite playing roles that span CEO, detective, clown, nurse, and counselor, early childhood educators are…
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Sandbox Confessionals: Ratio Violations, Institutional Betrayal, and Fighting Back in ECE
Description: 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...
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From "Rescue" to Sustainability: Inside the 20-Year Career of Ida Bauer
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.
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Teachers After Dark-Toddler Logic
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...
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Teachers After Dark: Why Is This A Thing?
Many teachers feel frustrated by outdated practices in early childhood education. Brittany and Crystal explore the hidden reasons behind these routines, revealing how understanding their purpose can empower educators to advocate for change. From strict diapering policies to unnecessary safety...
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The Real Cost of Care: An unfiltered look at Private ECE Ownership with Katie McDonald
In episode 2 of our wage transparency series we're joined by center owner Katie McDonald for a raw no-filter conversation about the financial realities of running a private preschool. From the weight of commercial rent to the impossible struggle of balancing fair wages with tight margins, we're...
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Crisis In The Sandbox- POC
Proof of concept , trial episode! Let us know what you think and send in your story! Don't panic, Our regular episodes are staying the same! Crystal and I are still bringing you the same ECE Unhinged content you know and love but today we are dropping something a little different and fun! Welcome...
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Teachers After Dark - Self Care
What do you do for self care?
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Wage Transparency_ Inside The Books Episode 1
Join us for a conversation as we talk to a childcare director in New Orleans and see what keeps her center going!
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The Elephant in The Classroom: Lets Talk ECE Pay
In this episode of "ECE Unhinged," hosts Brittany and Crystal introduce a new series focused on wage transparency in early childhood education. They discuss the financial challenges faced by teachers, such as low wages despite high tuition fees. The series aims to uncover where the money goes by...
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How Parenting Expectations Have Changed Over 35 Years—And What We Lost in the Shift
An Interview with a parent from the past! Most parents don't realize how much early childhood education has shifted in the last 35 years-sometimes for the worse. In this eye-opening episode, Chris, a father with over three decades of experience, reveals how childcare expectations, teaching...
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4/15 Teachers After Dark- Room, Exit, Burn
This weeks Teachers After Dark gets it's own episode! Are you drowning in the chaos of a lively classroom, desperately wishing you could hit pause or hit the delete button on some of the daily mess? Imagine if you could choose what stays, what goes, and what’s instantly forgotten-without the…
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Ask Us Anything! Thong Scrunchies, Crying Circles, and Why We Started This Chaos
No sugarcoating. No filters. Just the messy truth. Today, Brittany and Crystal answer your questions about the "unhinged" life of an early childhood educator. From the "thong-scrunchie" disaster to the reality of SPED issues in private centers, we’re covering it all. Highlights: The Podcast…
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Burned Out, Not Done: From Classroom to Childcare Policy
In this episode, we talk with Tiffany Chacon, a teacher who left the classroom and is now behind the scenes, about burnout, the realities of early childhood education, and the deep purpose behind caregiving. She shares honest stories about the challenges educators face and the moments that remind...
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Flipping The Script: The Research Behind Why We Stay
I'm not frustrating you, you're feeling frustrated," wise words from a three year old that perfectly capture the emotional rollercoaster of ECE. After our series on burnout, we're flipping the script to focus on why we stay. This episode is grounded in the research article "Early Childhood...
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Teachers After Dark: The Unfiltered Admin Files
We had to separate this segment because the conversation took a much heavier, more raw turn than our main episode. Welcome to the first-ever Teachers After Dark Live Call In session, where we stop talking about the research and start talking about the "living hell" that exists behind some...
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The "B" Word Wrapping Up Our Burnout Mini Series
Leading With Humanity: The B Word We’re wrapping up our burnout mini series with a conversation about teacher burnout in early childhood education and how it shows up differently for every educator. We share takeaways for recognizing burnout, setting boundaries, and holding space for your own...
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Leading With Humanity- "Rethinking Teacher Burnout"
This hour long episode kicks off our mini-series, Leading With Humanity- "Rethinking Teacher Burnout," starting with a conversation with our very own owner and director. The first few minutes set the stage but bear with us, the heart of the conversation delves into one directors perspective on...
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Leading with Humanity: Shifting the Culture of Teacher Burnout Part 2
Episode Description Burnout isn’t a diagnosis -- it’s a signal. In this special roundtable episode, we are peeling back the layers of the "B-word" to look at it through a lens of humanity and hope. Join your cohosts and our special guest, a first-year teacher fresh to the field, as we explore how...
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IYKYK- Real Stories from Real Teachers
You sent them, we read them and wow! This episode is a collection of real stories from teachers, some hilarious and some completely unhinged, and some that just make you question how you survive the day. We're recording this one from the car, reading and reacting as we go. It's messy, It's honest...
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The Raw Reality of Loving Tiny Humans- What is ECE?
We're Brittany and Crystal, two educators still in the classroom with over 40 years of experience between us. We love our jobs but the system is broken- and we are here to talk about it-from the car...So come along for the ride as we share what early childhood education really looks like and why…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
ECE UNHINGED - A Podcast for Today's Early Childhood Educator: Real stories, raw conversations and a little chaos from todays early childhood educators. We talk about burnout, behavior and the joys of teaching small humans-- honesty and off the rails conversations guaranteed, and as a bonus we are doing this from the comfort of our car and the view of the mountains. So ride along with us for an amazing journey ahead! 😂 Next episode drops Wednesday, January 7, 2026:Funny, real classroom stories submitted by educators — the moments you couldn’t make up if you tried
HOSTED BY
Brittany and Crystal
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does ECE Unhinged have?
ECE Unhinged currently has 31 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is ECE Unhinged about?
ECE UNHINGED - A Podcast for Today's Early Childhood Educator: Real stories, raw conversations and a little chaos from todays early childhood educators. We talk about burnout, behavior and the joys of teaching small humans-- honesty and off the rails conversations guaranteed, and as a bonus we are...
How often does ECE Unhinged release new episodes?
ECE Unhinged has 31 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to ECE Unhinged?
You can listen to ECE Unhinged on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts ECE Unhinged?
ECE Unhinged is created and hosted by Brittany and Crystal.
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