Do you have a colleague who talks about her child ALL the time

[Hello113]

One of my colleagues talks constantly about her child. To the point she'll listen everything she's eaten that day. I feel bad but its so boring.

Noise cancelling headphones. Just say it helps you focus.

I had a colleague who went on and on about Robbie, what they'd done, where they'd been, etc. I paid little attention as it was so tedious. Then one Monday she said 'Robbie won Best in Show'. Oh. Until then I'd assumed she had been referring to her son but no, a small yappy Shih Tzu.

I had an ice cool work colleague who worked all the time. We had shared an office and after about a month she was in a phone call saying goodnight. By way of explanation she said “I have a toddler but she lives with her father’s nanny”. And carried on working into the night. Didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified!

I interpreted that as that she couldn’t reciprocate kid talk, but that she could tell her about her dog.

Yes!!!! Just starts bleating about what he had for dinner, what his poos are like, all the drawings he did at nursery. What he's giving for people for Christmas. What he's wearing.the list is is endless. Also we work in an office and she just assumes anyone who pops in also wants to know about her pfb. So I hear how many peas he ate last night multiple times in one day.

I don't give a flying fuck.

Sorry but you did ask and I had to rant. I also probably wouldnt mind if she actually did some work occasionally instead.

My friend's wife is like this. It didn't stop when the children got older. Now it's all about where they go skiing, or what luxurious hotels they've stayed in. Her husband has made a fortune, but he's the most unassuming person you could meet. She uses her children as an excuse to talk at everyone about herself and her "sophisticated" life.

Sorry, but the OP isn’t a counsellor or volunteering with the elderly. She’s at work; she has things to do.

To quote my grandmother when asked why she didn’t keep working “for the company” instead of retiring: “It’s an office, not an over-60s club.”

XWKD · Today 10:01

My friend's wife is like this. It didn't stop when the children got older. Now it's all about where they go skiing, or what luxurious hotels they've stayed in. Her husband has made a fortune, but he's the most unassuming person you could meet. She uses her children as an excuse to talk at everyone about herself and her "sophisticated" life.

This is very familiar! I think I might know her 😉

My oldest friend is like this - I have to steel myself to ring because I know it’ll be half an hour of this weeks greatest child hits. I have a child of my own, spend all day working with children of a similar age and have no more than a passing interest in the vagaries of their child’s friendships/school clubs/diet/shoe size. It drives me mental.

More likely just trying to change the subject to something more interesting.

With pets people are telling you short funny/cute stories of something they did.

With kids people are telling you the exact shade and consistency of their latest shit and their thoughts on it, or a half hour story about how terrible Horatio's teacher is for not letting him use the cerulean marker.

The OP already has her actual job to and probably doesn’t have the time or energy to be an unpaid support worker to the lonely. This person is her colleague, not a project.

Yes and it’s very boring 🥱
She doesn’t get the message when I carry on with my work and don’t even look up. I would rather hear about someone’s cat or dog tbh.

Urgh yes I worked with one of these ... and if she wasn't talking about the child it was herself.. telling us how she looks good in certain clothing .. it was honestly like an episode of Peppa Pig "I'm very good at skating".. I wouldn't have minded if she wasn't an absolutely vile person who made the place so toxic I left.

Yes but thankfully shes gone on maternity leave with her second, however another colleague is always yapping on about her grandson, sharing videos etc.

I dont mind a bit of chit chat on the tea break but I dont need a running commentary all day.

I did -but the "child" in question was a grown women with a child of her own who I also got daily updates on. It was quite sweet really as she was obviously a very proud mum and granny, but it was obviously immensely boring. I just used to nod along. I can still remember loads about them years on. Sadly, the daughter died a while ago suddenly and I often think about her mum and how she is coping.
I had a boss once who was absolutely obsessed with Friends (the TV show) and that was far worse than kid updates. She used to force me to watch clips on her phone while muttering along to the script every single day. We had to chat about Friends at least once a day. To this day I can't stand watching Friends which I previously liked.

haha this happened in my work. One colleague had both a husband and a dog, both with human type names (e.g. Harry and Tim). It wasn't until they told a story about 'Tim' jumping up and licking someone when they'd visited that I saw a different colleague making confused faces and we established that for months she'd assumed Tim was the husband and Harry the dog, when it was the other way around.

Easy mistake you might think, except some of the other stories the colleague had previously told had featured 'Tim' peeing on the floor, trying 'Tim' with a new diet of raw meat, etc...Given we were all detectives at the time it was a bit concerning...😂

this thread is quite funny. talking too much about kids is annoying but so is people talking about their pets, hobbies, interests, etc....essentially anything at all. I would recommend wfh, I mainly talk to myself while at work now, and I find myself fascinating 😂

I hear you op i really do not only from past work colleagues but also relatives and old friends.
Just nod and smile hummm thats nice.

What i really want to say is shut the fuck up Its boring and i dont want to know about your little shits daily life.
You make my ears bleed.

Back to smile and nod.

Dont get me started with the oh you wouldn't know really as you have no kids dont worry it will happen.

NO IT WONT BECAUSE I DONT BLOODY WANT THEM.

Smile and nod.

I love my own kids. I’m not remotely interested in the kids of other people

I know this is light-hearted (to some extent), but I was just wondering what people can or should talk about at work, if not their families, pets, interests. When I went out to work (I WFH now), a little anecdote or a not too personal problem shared would break up the monotony and help us to see members of the team as human beings, not just employees.

Agreed, some social chat is important. But some people don't know when to stop.

There's a big difference between a few anecdotes and banging on for hours about your personal life or interests without taking a breath or letting the other person get a word in.
My "Friends" TV show boss literally wouldn't shut up. It wasn't the odd comment, it was hours of constant talking at me about the bloody show. Even when I tried to say I'd seen this episode or stayed quiet, she'd carry on. She'd shove her phone under my nose so I couldn't not look. If it had been a few minutes a day I wouldn't have minded! She wasn't interested in hearing any part of my life. Conversation should go both ways.

A little anecdote, a funny tale, a bit of a how was your weekend, a short rant about something, is all part of day to day life. Happy to chat a wee bit but then I'll get on with what I'm supposed to be doing.

Endless updates about Billy the Budgie dying and his funeral, or little Tommy and his bowel movements can feck right off.

I love my dgc, but I'd never bore the arse off a work colleague with a constant running narrative about kids football matches, and how Tilly scored yet another hat trick.

To be fair you could replace this with any subject - pets, sports, f$cking running, last night's dinner, their upcoming wedding, holiday, etc. Some people just have no social awareness or know the difference between interesting conversations and oversharing every minute detail about their life.

I’m not in the U.K. and it’s a common turn of phrase here. It just means it’s a subject I’m not interested in. Nothing sinister meant by it.

Sure. I’m not particularly interested in kids but I’ll ask my colleagues about their DCs / pets / marathon training / craft classes and they’ll ask after my cat, and we’ll all listen to the answers because we get on & we’re interested in each others’ lives.

Listening to someone whanging on about the same thing for ages would be incredibly boring.