And the lying about sweets bugs me too, but I’m a dietician and that reads to me like “sneaking” sugar. Great way to set your kids up to have an unhealthy relationship with food later on

Nope. Biggest issue is the keeping secrets from parents thing. But I also feel like if I’m paying for childcare, my expectation is that they are doing what they are supposed to or at least letting us know that they did something else/not lying to me about what they are doing while my child is in their care.

I don’t care if you watched a movie instead of reading a book before bed or whatever but I don’t want to be lied to and I certainly don’t want my kid to be encouraged to lie about what went on while I was gone.

I’m a child carer of that age, and I’d never ever say “don’t tell your mother” or vary from plan you had laid out.
Red flag

Major red flag. Undermining your authority, cultivating disrespect, and grooming.

I don’t like the dont tell your parents. This is big red flag to me; it requires a conversation and I would honestly probably replace the person, delivering the news gently so they may learn from it

Don’t tell your parents is never something that should come out of an adults mouth who’s watching your child