What person in their right mind would punish a 4-year-old child by making him stand outside in the freezing cold with no snowsuit? (In North Dakota, no less?) Or, more accurately, what 3 people in their right minds would do such a thing? Apparently 3 teachers at a YMCA Learning Center in Fargo did exactly that to one of their students. And they might've gotten away with it, too, if a classmate's parent hadn't happened to notice the little boy standing on the playground shivering (temperatures were only in the mid-teens that day!). When she asked him what he was doing outside without his coat, he told her he was "being punished." Horrified, the parent immediately called the police.

A preschool in California is in hot water after a teacher allegedly tied up a 2-year-old girl for refusing to take a nap. The little girl's mom found out thanks to a photo the teacher took that was being passed around a gathering of current and former teachers, and you can just imagine the look on her face when she saw her toddler's wrists and ankles bound with masking tape!

Cops are investigating, so it looks like this teacher's disturbing nap strategies will be dealt with. But while we're on the subject, why is a daycare worker trying to FORCE a child to nap anyway?

One of President Obama's proposals in last night's State of the Union address must have made parents of toddlers sit up and listen (if they were still awake by then). Obama wants to expand preschool opportunities for four-year-olds. This would include providing high-quality preschool for all low-income and moderate-income families, and expanding programs for middle-income families. The proposal would also incentivize full-day kindergarten.

But at a time when budgets are already tight and we're cutting every government program that isn't working, should we expand preschool? Does preschool really "work" -- and what do we really expect preschool do to, anyway?

Okay, here's a hypothetical for all the moms in the house: Let's say you drop your 2-year-old off at nursery school one morning, run to work, wake up your computer, and are just about to start sifting through the most important-looking emails when your phone rings -- it's the head teacher from your daughter's nursery school letting you know the kid needs to be picked up, ASAP. Oh no! A million different scenarios run through your head at once: Does she have a fever? Did she fall off the tire swing and get hurt? Is she having an allergic reaction to something you didn't even know she was allergic to? What could have happened? Oh, it's nothing to worry about, the teacher assures you -- just a dirty diaper. WHAT?!

It's been a long time since either one of my kids was in diapers (hooray for that!), but apparently there's a disturbing trend going on in toddler care these days: Nursery schools and daycare centers with strict no-diaper changing policies.

One minute you're holding your newborn baby, next thing you know, your little one is already 3 years old! Time to sign up for preschool. Time for dress-up, play dough, sandboxes, snack time, and singing in circle time. Yay!

But wait -- maybe you think your toddler is ready for preschool. But is he, really? Is the preschool ready for her? Better think this through a bit, first. Here are some signs your toddler might not be so ready for preschool after all.

Sigh. After reading an article this morning about a mom who is upset that her preschooler is being taught to act like a gentleman, I can't help but worry about whether chivalry as we know it will inevitably disappear from our society altogether -- all because some parents see respectful behavior as a bad thing.

New York Times writer Lynn Messina is all bent out of shape because her 4-year-old son has been introduced to the "ladies first" concept by his preschool teacher, who lets the girls go to the restroom before the boys before nap time. And somehow, she views the idea of letting the girls go before the boys as a sexism/gender equality thing.

Lynn explains her reasoning for viewing the practice of letting girls go first as sexist in depth. While I sort of understand where she's coming from -- I just can't get behind her way of thinking.

Have you heard of the movie Snakes on a Plane? Now just imagine if it was snakes in a daycare instead. That's the issue a group of parents are dealing with in Townsville, Australia. Their children's nursery school was forced to shut down because of an infestation of pythons. Not little, harmless garden snakes, mind you, but deadly, bone-crushing pythons. Are you freaking out yet? I know I am.

You know how people always half-joke that kids have more fun with boxes than the toys in them? Well, one Ohio preschool teacher recently proved that to be true when he got rid of every toy in his classroom and replaced them with cardboard boxes.

Pete Kaser said he was inspired by his students, and felt like there was too much "preassigned value" placed on his teaching materials. He told the Huffington Post, "I wasn’t getting the imagination out of the children that I wanted."

So one day he removed all of the toys and learning materials and put cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and other raw material in their place. The kids' reaction was incredible.