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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bringing kids to work

19 replies

catlady34 · 17/08/2018 12:38

I don't see an issue with bringing them in and sitting them quietly in a room to play for an hour while their parent attends a meeting, but their mum is able to work from home whenever she wants. So why is she here with her two children, letting them shriek and run around?? I asked and she has no meetings, just a conference call, so I truly am stumped as to why there's currently a 7 year old sticking blue tack to the water cooler. She actually went into a private office for the conference call, leaving the two of them to annoy everyone else! AIBU??

OP posts:
NoSquirrels · 17/08/2018 12:43

Probably because they'd shriek at home too and she wouldn't have an office to lock herself in? Grin

Seriously, though. She is a bit out of order. But 7 year olds respond really quite well to random adults with a scary glint in their eye telling them to -STFU be quiet. So I'd try that, if I were you!

PumpkinPie2016 · 17/08/2018 12:55

That's not on! I could understand if she has no choice but to come in to the office and was mega stuck for someone to have the kids, however, in these circumstances , you give them quiet toys/snacks/iPad with earphones.

Allowing them to run around shrieking while people are trying to work is not on!

StealthPolarBear · 17/08/2018 12:58

Is this a one off or does she routinely work with small children

Lottapianos · 17/08/2018 12:59

She's absolutely taking the piss. I would be fuming

LightDrizzle · 17/08/2018 13:00

That wouldn’t be acceptable in most workplaces surely? In places I’ve worked, very occasionally a partner might pop in with children for 5 mins or so to drop something off or something, and of course everyone would make a nice fuss of the children and be welcoming to the spouse, but what you describe is disruptive.

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 17/08/2018 13:03

I personally can’t stand children in the office. Sadly some people honestly believe that their children are in equal measure terribly well behaved and very interesting to other people.

Original poster
catlady34 · 17/08/2018 13:04

LightDrizzle it's tricky because our manager is based at another office, and it's pretty quiet at the minute here anyway. Today it's just me, the woman and her kids and one other woman. So it's just the two of us being annoyed.

OP posts:
Poloshot · 17/08/2018 13:07

Why don't you and the other person there both go for lunch at the same time and leave the kids to it

IceCreamFace · 17/08/2018 13:08

WTF? I've never known anyone do this! My boss used very occasionally bring his two in but they were quiet and just coloured in and read all day in his office. Those of us without private offices or with more rambunctious kids wouldn't have dreamed of bringing them in unless 100% unavoidable.

ineedaholidaynow · 17/08/2018 13:11

When DS was younger I sometimes had to bring him in to the office, as work wanted me to finish some work out of my usual hours and I had no childcare. I used to make him sit under my desk, which he thought was great Shock He mainly spent most of his time clearing my desk drawers of any snacks I had.

I certainly would not have let him run round the office. he knew he had to be quiet. Had open plan office with people on phones chatting to clients.

LightDrizzle · 17/08/2018 13:16

Ideally, you’d knock on the door of the private room she is on a call in, and say something like “Sorry to interrupt Sam, but the kids need supervision and Martha and I are working.”
Of course I’m probably too much of a fanny to follow my own advice and might just seethe. I might also evilly tell the children they need to go and play quietly in mum’s office, - indicating the private office.
If she was in a tight squeeze and had actually explained and asked if she could leave the children playing as a one-off, while saying she understood if not, I would probably have accommodated her, but the cheek of just leaving you with her young children who you can’t discipline, while you are also trying to work!
Also why on earth didn't she come armed with colouring/ books/ kindles with headphones?

LonginesPrime · 17/08/2018 13:16

It's not fair on everyone else to have to make allowances for the children (like not being able to call clients, etc until they've gone, having to keep an eye on them while their mum is on the phone, etc), especially while other parents are paying a fortune out on childcare to work at the same place!

My boss sometimes brings theirs in and everyone has to pretend we think it's cute that they're visiting, but I personally find it annoying and unprofessional.

People often don't see how annoying and disruptive their own kids are, though. Plus, children's behaviour that would be fine at home is still really distracting in an office environment.

5foot5 · 17/08/2018 13:35

If she was in a really tight spot and had to pop in for a short time fair enough. But not to allow them to run around and be disruptive to everyone else.

Possible courses of action:

  1. Speak sharply to the children yourself. Tell them you are trying to work and they must sit quietly until Mum comes out. With any look an irate stranger telling them off will have an effect.
  1. Take them to the office where she is having the call and put them in with her and tell them to stay there.
  1. As Poloshot suggests go for lunch. Not your job to supervise them. Maybe pop your head around the door and make sure she knows before you go.,
Momo27 · 17/08/2018 13:42

Totally out of order. I suspect she hasn’t got childcare sorted and thought it would be less distracting (for her) to bring them to the office rather than try to work from home around them.

I agree with the suggestion of knocking on the door and loudly announcing that you’re sending her kids in because you and your colleague are working. I’d also tell the line manager that you had difficulty concentrating today because X brought her kids to work. I suspect the boss assumes that when X works from home she has childcare in place, so this could really blow her cover.

Allthewaves · 17/08/2018 13:45

Have a stern word with the kids.

RedPanda2 · 17/08/2018 14:27

I hate this too. My manager sometimes brings her toddler in when he has an appt. In the same building and parades her around the offices. I close my office door.

Lottapianos · 17/08/2018 16:01

'My manager sometimes brings her toddler in when he has an appt. In the same building and parades her around the offices. I close my office door.'

Grin Love you for this!

Longines, I agree that it's annoying and unprofessional. Arrange to meet people for lunch or whatever if you want to show off your baby / child and leave people out of it who want to be left out of it.

sexnotgender · 17/08/2018 16:04

That’s not ok.

As for the paraded toddler, why do some people think other people are even remotely interested in their children?

Redtartanshoes · 17/08/2018 16:09

The company won’t be insured for them to be on the premises. If they had an accident there would be a big problem from a health and safety perspective. I know a guy who brought his daughter in, she lost the end of her finger jamming it in the door. There was a very sad case in Edinburgh a few years ago where a toddler died falling from
A mezzanine floor... it wasn’t designed or risk assessed for toddlers. Sad

Also if she isn’t directly supervising them, who would be responsible for evacuating them in the case of a fire?

Aside from the above can you imagine the carnage if everyone brought their kids in on Monday)? Grin

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