Taking the whole family everywhere

[Ilikegreenshoes]

I bring my middle child to karate every Saturday morning. It's a fairly full class with limited seating for anyone watching.

AIBU to find it extremely annoying when some families turn up all together every week (mum, dad and a child or two) taking up heaps of space?

I just don't get the appeal. The other kids are bored and distracting, parents are up and down, in and out and there are adults sitting on the floor while children take up the seats.

I understand everyone coming down for the first lesson to watch or whatever, but this is every single week!

Just having a moan really, it's given me the hump this morning (I'm one of the ones on the floor today!)

I would find this so annoying and senseless. Why don't you have a quiet word with the instructor? You could find out his/her opinion and then gently ask if he/she could have a new rule - only one parent and only bring kids if you have to. Or something.

How does the class concentrate with all that rabble anyway?

Agree it's annoying but also agree with mathanxiety that, as with many instances of behaviour that prevents things from running as smoothly as they might, there's usually a blindly oblivious and either useless or controlling man at the back of it.

I had to drag 3 kids everywhere as DH worked away. Now mil has one or two - utter bliss.

It's just bad manners if there is limited space and seating to tip up with your whole family.

@Hallyup6

Are you sure the other children don't have their own class before or after the session? I used to have two children with consecutive swimming lessons so I'd have to sit with one of them while the other had her lesson, then swap.

It is irritating though. There's a couple who both come to pick up their 4 year old twins from nursery and I always wonder why one adult can't cope with two children.

Yes I used to do this with swimming too. But as there were limited chairs there too I would make my dc sit on the floor or my lap if an adult was standing, and let the adult sit down.

It was really shocking how many parents didn’t do this though and parked their kids on the chairs with an iPad or similar, oblivious to the adults standing around them!

Siblings shouldn’t be taking up the seats, and there’s no need for more than one adult per child.

Single parents will of course have to bring the younger ones, which is a nightmare pita tbh!

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

Siblings shouldn’t be taking up the seats, and there’s no need for more than one adult per child.

Single parents will of course have to bring the younger ones, which is a nightmare pita tbh!

What about if a parent is working? Jesus expanded your mind

To be honest, yes - I see it as a sign of a controlling partner. Could be either of them. One parent could take the solo child to its lesson, but then the other parents kicks off - "What about me? Am I to be left with these other children all on my own? Is this because you want to be away from me because I'm a lunatic, or shirk your responsibilities?"

And yes. Don't nag on at women who cannot drive and whose reason might not seem valid to you. She can't say "my husband won't let me learn" in polite company.

Obviously if a parent is working the you have to take the siblings, that’s unavoidable! But then don’t plonk them all over the available chairs if there’s not enough!

Regarding parties, we have had the same at a couple of ours where siblings have turned up uninvited (it’s fine if they ask beforehand) and then sat down and eaten the party food. The worst time was when we did individual food boxes and then a sibling turned up and grabbed one and was half way through it before we realised! That would have been embarrassing apart from luckily one kid had not turned up! But they wouldn’t have known that! The parents looked on oblivious! (Both parents turned up, it was weird!)

@enjoyingscience

Agree. I used to work in an out of hours GP surgery, and there were so many families would bring both parents, all the kids, and often a grandparent or two. The consulting rooms were only for two, so they couldn’t all go in, but the waiting room would be heaving.

Total madness, and the most efficient way to make sure that instead of having one poorly child, you’d have a house full, as the place was absolutely looping with germs. Same families often required patient transport, so taking up seven or eight seats in a transport for one patient.

Yes this used to happen in our department pre covid. (Not on the transport though) In fact it is one of the changes for the better now that they cant come in with hangers on.

Id love to know why they do it though!

I think that, when we ourselves do something, it's for an excellent reason.

When someone else does it, they're idiots.

So the 1 in 10 time you take the whole family, because you're all going straight to grandmas after or whatever, you think it's fair enough to take your dh and dc.

But when you see someone else doing it you assume there isn't a reason, there can't be, not a good enough one anyway, not good enough for you, they probably do that all the time, they're a family of dickheads.

Who knows why they all turn up. Fundamentally, because they want to, because they're allowed, because it's no one else's business really. I don't think kids should be on chairs while adults sit on the floor though.