To feel like I'm being used for childcare at this class

[Treesh]

DC does an activity a few evenings a week. The instructor brings their child to the classes. They’re supposed to be doing the class but most of the time they don’t take part and basically just disrupt the class. Inevitably, they end up coming to sit where the parents are. There aren’t many parents that stay and watch so it’s usually just me. They end up chatting to me and I just find it really irritating. I usually just want to watch my DC participate and not engage with a precocious child that doesn’t know when to stop talking and can’t behave. Sometimes if there are other parents there they will engage with them but it feels like the instructor is just using us parents as childcare. AIBU to basically just ignore said child?

This would drive me mad tbh. Tell the kid you don’t want to chat because you’re busy watching your kid doing the activity.

Are the classes run by a business, or is it parent-run, with the instructor being unpaid?
If the former, of course yanbu. If the latter, then its much trickier.

Just don't watch.

It's her business in that I believe it's a franchise. So she must draw something out of it though it isn't her full time job.

But I want to watch my DC 🤷🏼‍♀️

Are you the OP, @Ginger1982 ?

That would piss me off-I’d take a laptop and do some work and tell the child you’re busy.

Or say you’ve to take a phone call and leave for five minutes. Come back, but keep leaving until the message sinks in.

I know you want to watch your child but there's the danger, if you confront the coach they make things uncomfortable for your dc.

Become unreliable. Skip one week, turn up ten mins late to spectate another, or leave before the end (coming back to collect your child, obviously!).

Tell the kid once shh, you're watching your child, then ignore ignore.

Take a laptop, open it and tell PITA child to go and bother someone else cos you’re busy

I'd just ignore the child. Take a book and watch dd out of the corner of your eye,

My dd used to do an activity where a man brought his dd to wait. It was just the three of us in the foyer of a school and he was always trying to get me to engage with this child. 'I wonder in the lady' etc. I just wasn't having it and I never so much looked at her.

Tell the child to stop talking to you!

Put some earbuds/headphones in and pretend you are listening to music so you can spectate in peace.

It isn’t the child’s fault. Just tell them you are busy watching the class… and repeat every single time the child tries to engage with you.

This. Why are adults frightened of upsetting kids?

Yeah, name change fail, oh well 😂 I suppose I just don't want the child to tell their mum I've told them I don't want to talk to them. I'll try and be subtle about it and dissuade them from bothering me 👍🏻

I would blank the child

I've had something similar. I would firmly tell the child I can't talk right now as I'm watching my kid. I'd try and redirect. Of no luck id talk to the instructor/consider moving my kid to something else. I have just enough energy for my tribe, never mind other peoples tribe!