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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that, no, bringing your 4 year old in to work with you all day is really not a good idea?

69 replies

TantrumsAndBalloons · 17/10/2013 14:37

Especially when you work in a communal office and you the parent work as a call centre agent meaning you are supposed to be on the phone for the whole 8 hour shift?

I am covering the call centre managers shift as well as trying to do my own job today because of the strike.
And I know it's bloody hard trying to arrange childcare when you are a working parent.
I've had to do it myself today.

But 9-5 in a call centre with 10 other people and a 4 year old is surely never going to work.

The little boy is adorable. But he's 4. And obviously 4 year olds are loud and get bored easily and need to be taken to the toilet quickly by someone, needs to be taken to the kitchen to get a drink.

Everyone else is complaining to me, I don't normally work in this part of the office so I don't know who agreed to this but.... It's not going well.

I don't want to offend her at all because I know that she had no other option but I am thinking of letting her go home now and authorize pher wages so she gets paid for the last 2 hours.

If I suggest that will she think I'm a cold hearted bitch who hates children?
It's just getting a bit unbearable now tbh.

OP posts:

HexU · 17/10/2013 16:17

Are you sure it has been authorize - and she hasn't just chanced it being o.k ? If she had I wouldn't be paying the last two hours.

If it has been authorize I'd be having words with whoever did that.

ilovesooty · 17/10/2013 16:19

The employee has to take some responsibility though. It wouldn't have been authorised by fuckwit manager if she hadn't asked in the first place.

HexU · 17/10/2013 16:21

SweetSeraphim I had that once head of another department left his girls with me at that point a single woman with no interest or experience of children and I was chasing a deadline for my department. I was very bemused and annoyed.

Luckily a male friend of mine in guys department took them to play games on his pc - cause he was a nice guy and had no work on.

MsWilliamTheBloody · 17/10/2013 16:26

My dad used to bring his cat to work.

He can be (ahem) 'eccentric'.

Although he did have his own office so the cat wasn't causing an inconvenience.

x2boys · 17/10/2013 16:28

and the manager sanctioned that mrswilliam the bloody not only is working in a nursing home extremely hard work but how on earth would you be able to see to your childrens needs as well as the residents the residents are elderly and need peace and quiet how would it work?

ColderThanAWitchsTitty · 17/10/2013 16:30

Did the cat do the filing?

frogwatcher42 · 17/10/2013 16:32

Maybe it wasn't authorised? In which case it is dreadfully unfair that she got paid for 2 hours and others had to pay childcare for their 2 hours!

BoffinMum · 17/10/2013 16:37

I practically grew up in my parents' workplaces. I am very knowledgeable about 11kv and 32kv electrical transmission systems and German interpretation techniques as a consequence.

I think if there's a strike on, or other childcare arrangements fall through completely, most people are pretty stuffed and they have no realistic choice about this unless they are on megabucks. Even then, sometimes you just can't find childcare for love nor money, and there's no obligation on the part of the local authority to provide any (perhaps there should be).

Plying colleagues' children with muffins and occasionally lending a hand is often a very kind thing to do in such situations.

Of course a very enlightened employer might have organised a creche ...

SweetSeraphim · 17/10/2013 16:48

Talkinpeace · 17/10/2013 16:49

I used to go into my mum's office when I was that age
BUT
I sat under her desk colouring and reading and doing puzzles
her boss did not realise I was there till lunchtime when I appeared to go to the park for a lunchtime debounce

there was no childcare back then and single working mums were pretty unusual

fedupwithdeployment · 17/10/2013 16:52

I had my 2 in work for about 20 minutes today (popped in after lunch to see the office). They are great, and pretty well behaved (6 and 9), but after 20 minutes, it was time for them to go!

OP you did well.

My brother had to take the day off at short notice - hadn't known about the strike until yesterday...and his wife is in hospital. Not easy. My friend who is a primary school head took his 2 off to his school (not on strike) for the day...I thought about lending him my 2

I have to say I am not that keen on strikes (takes cover pre-flaming) - we are lucky we have a back up, but for those that don't, it is incredibly difficult.

Talkinpeace · 17/10/2013 16:55

TBH my kids always came to various workplaces with me when they were small (I'm self employed) and because it was 'normal' they knew how to stay out of the way.
I ran a training event with them at the back of a room under a table (I made a den with the tablecloth) and some of the delegates did not realise they were there till they spotted the biccies!

BUT
To bring a kid into an office without proper preparation is daft

Snuppeline · 17/10/2013 17:07

I take my children to work sometimes, as do colleagues and bosses with children too. In fact during my interview one of the management team had a three month old in buggy in the room. She came in during mat leave to interview me. I think my line of work make such allowances as lie a between work and own time is blurred (I worked 420 hours overtime in 2012). So I think it is reasonable to be allowed for being child in. However, I set them up in separate room with DVD on, snacks etc and I would leave as early as I could. Most people I know take their children to work at some point, but none of us work on the ph

Snuppeline · 17/10/2013 17:10

...posted too soon, on phone.

Meant to finish with "works on the phone all day". I find people's reactions here are a bit harsh but I guess I'm biased as my work environment and that of all my friends/clients are so relaxed with regard to this. I do see that call centre is less appropriate environment though.

MsWilliamTheBloody · 17/10/2013 20:59

It didn't work. Not at all.

The manager/owner wasn't there at the weekends so never saw how bad it was. She was under some weird illusion that the residents liked seeing the children. Maybe for half an hour but not for two days.

You could see the residents (many with a form of dementia) getting very anxious by it all.

Ragusa · 17/10/2013 21:13

I think the OP did the right thing.

Tanking a child into wirk is never ideal, but some people have lives that are really unbelievably complex, hard, and lacking in any form of support.

It also depends on workplace policies - was it made clear that the employee was legally entitled to caring leave? Are short-notice absences for chikdcare purposes frowned-on and seen as a black mark??

Ragusa · 17/10/2013 21:14

oh bloody fat fingers, excuse typos.

Darkesteyes · 17/10/2013 22:49

When i was working in a sex chatline office 11 years ago a colleaugue brought her 11 year old daughter in. Her babysitter couldnt look after her for some reason It was one of those places where if you didnt come in you didnt get paid.
We used to book calls in the main office and make calls (call the blokes back) in a different room. We tried to do it quietly that night so the young girl didnt hear anything (she stayed in main office) which wasnt easy during the domination calls when we had to shout.

BoffinMum · 18/10/2013 09:04

Darkesteyes, now that is one situation where I think she should have been allowed to stay home, tbh.

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