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... and how much is too much "guess what my child did yesterday" chatter?
...and do you really think people care?
I was in another thread where a woman said she couldn't tolerate the constant anecdotes from her coworkers about their kids' developmental journeys.
I've only worked in one place... just one... where chatter about the kids predominated idle discussion... but apparently it's more common than I thought.
Please share any observations about what's professional and what isn't.
I talk about beers a lot. Some people care and some don't. Granted, beers are much different than children, but I think the same concept stands. You'll have some people interested in the child chatter and some who would wish you'd put a lid on it.
(Before I had kids) I worked with a guy who was telling me a story about what his kid did the night before. He was going on and on and then I guess he noticed the look on my face because he abruptly stopped, waited for a second or two and said “I just realized this is probably not nearly as amusing to you as it is to me”. We had a good laugh because, yeah, he was right.
I don't care much for in-depth personal life chatter at work. A little is okay though, we all probably do it, but most people could care less about your mother, father, children, aunts and uncles. I do like pet stories though, they're my favorite. Lol.
... and how much is too much "guess what my child did yesterday" chatter?
...and do you really think people care?
I was in another thread where a woman said she couldn't tolerate the constant anecdotes from her coworkers about their kids' developmental journeys.
I've only worked in one place... just one... where chatter about the kids predominated idle discussion... but apparently it's more common than I thought.
Please share any observations about what's professional and what isn't.
Why would we do that? All it will get us is criticism for mentioning their existence ever, having them in the first place, and being working parents.
No, I don't talk about the "constantly" (not consistently). No, I don't think people care. Nor do I care what the childless did over the weekend, or what their dog did, or how tired they are from all the socializing, or how much they dislike kids. Or, my favorite, their health issues. These are all things that my coworkers talk about, yet the only one every openly criticized is talking about kids.
I used to work in the cube farm. There was one woman who every day gave a report, on one or both of her kids, to everyone who entered her cube. She would also go to others in their cubes, and relate the story. (She had a voice that carried.) I heard the story of the day at least 5 times before 9 am. She was a management favorite, so nothing ever done.
I think anything could be boring for listeners....speakers, know your audience.
In my experience the things kids do are usually only amusing to their parents. I have a coworker who talks about her family a lot; usually not to me but to another coworker but I can still hear the conversation. It's very dull and uninteresting and I know the other coworker who has to listen thinks so too. It reminds me of how Kathy Lee Gifford used to drone on about her son Cody on Live with Regis and Kathy Lee.
Last edited by Aspe4; 01-19-2016 at 05:30 PM..
Reason: Corrected typo
In my experience the things kids do are usually only amusing to their parents. I have a coworker who talks about her family a lot; usually not to me but to another coworker but I can still hear the conversation. It's very dull and uninteresting and I know the other coworker who has to listen thinks so too. It reminds me of how Kathy Lee Gifford used to drone on about her son Cody on Live with Regis and Kathy Lee.
What childless people don't understand is that, once you have kids, everything else is trivial. I'm not defending the people who talk about their kids too much, but a lot of people talk about a lot of things too much. Once you have kids, all the rest of it is even less important and less interesting than it was before.
The people I work with only share little things here or there. It doesn't bother me.
I don't work with anyone who talks about their children all day.
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