I've had pretty terrible experiences with babysitters. Abuse, neglect, bullying, basically everything. When I was 5 I fell off a fence and broke my arm, so the babysitter sent me to my room without supper because I wouldn't stop crying. Lost some skin being drug by my feet over carpet without a shirt on, I think I was maybe 8 or 9? That's far from everything. Lots of problems growing up in the 70s...

I babysat a few brats as a teen (yeah, back then boys could babysit... Weird, huh?), but mostly just played with the kids until they got tired. No real issues.

My kids have had it pretty good, a nice in-home daycare when they were babies, and I've been working from home for about a decade, so lots of personal contact. One summer I hired a "fun coordinator" for them, a former lifeguard, they're still close friends.

Oh boy. I have two stories. When I was like four or five I accidentally locked myself in the bathroom at the babysitters. I don't remember much about it but my older sister did. She said the babysitter was very crabby and might have had early dementia. Evidently the babysitter kept yelling at me and saying I wasn't going to get my snack if I didn't get out of the bathroom. My 7 or 8 year old sister had to help me get out. As an adult, we had the police come and haul our babysitter off to jail. The babysitter had no license, though she said she did, and was watching too many children at once. I should have figured out there was a problem when after a month or two the babysitter started having my son ready to go and would meet me at the door when I went to pick him up. Looking back it is clear she started watching too many kids and then didn't want me coming in her house and seeing all the kids.