A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:I'm so annoyed about something that's happened at work and I'm not sure whether to confront the person, speak to my manager or keep quite.I work in an office 3 days a week- Monday's, Tuesdays and Thursday's as I have a 3 year old son.Our manager doesn't like us bringing our children in the office which I'm completely fine with and agree with.A couple of weeks ago I finished work on the Thursday and realised I had a report which I forgot to give to my manager and I know he needed it for Friday afternoon (when I don't work). I texted him Thursday evening as soon as I realised and told him I could drop it off to him Friday morning but I would have my son with me as I was unable to get childcare at short notice. He texted back that it was fine.On Friday I got to my office - fortunately my son is well behaved and we said hello to a few of the girls in the office and 1 of the women gave him a Bannana and we immediately went in to see my manager in his office (a separate room in the main office) . We were in there for about 20 minutes - my son ate his fruit quietly and was colouring in. We then left and said bye to the same ladies who saw us in.On Monday when I got in my supervisor took me to the side and said she felt that my son and I had distracted the team when we came in on Friday (she was working that day and saw us come in) I told her that we weren't in the office long enough to distract anyone as we only said hello and then went in to see our manager and when we left it was a quick "bye" not even a minute!! She just argued that it did distract the team and to be mindful in future. I apologised but didn't agree with her.I asked my colleagues if my son and I had distracted them and they said we hadn't as they weren't even busy and the fact we barely spoke to them and to ignore our supervisor as she likes to feel important.Now on Tuesday just gone our manager wasn't in and out supervisor who wasn't working came in with her 5 year old son (she was meeting a friend for lunch as the school was closed due to a teacher training day and her friend was running late) and allowed him to run around the office- making noise and distracting everyone!!! Everyone got annoyed by this but she just totally ignored him and let him carry on!! He was also rolling himself about on the chair crashing in to things which she found amusing!! Before anyone on here assumes her child has something wrong with him- ADHD or autism he doesn't - he's just very spoilt and Not disciplined- my supervisor often jokes she wishes he did have 1 of these issues so atleast she could medicate him!How dare she lecture me about our quick visit where my son barely did anything,when she allowed her son to continue his disruptive behaviour for 30 minutes!!!I'm so tempted to report this to our manager or to confront her directly. Nobody has reported her and I doubt they will and I'm worried about causing friction but I can't let her get away with it.What should I do?
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male
reader, Sageoldguy1465  +, writes (28 March 2015):
What you have "asked" .... is for a battle (with your supervisor) in which there is NO "win" for you....
Drop the issue, and count your Blessings that YOU have a well-behaved son... and that your Supervisor has a brat-of-a-son... and SHE will have to live with all the fallout from THAT... and, quite possibly, for a long time....
Good luck...
A
female
reader, Honeypie + ♥, writes (28 March 2015):
 I'm with WiseOwlE.
I'd let it go. As for the kid, well he is a brat because he parents LET him.
If you have to bring your son in again (like last time) to drop something off, MAKE sure your BOSS BOSS (not the supervisor) tells the supervisor that HE agreed to it. That way she can't really pull the "office policy out". And like WiseOwlE said, walk in, drop off the report, walk out.
My personal guess? She was jealous at your kids well-behaved manners. She is a petty person when it comes to kids. Her son acts like a BRAT because SHE allows it. It might have been "cute" at age 2, but age 5? not so cute anymore.
For what it is worth, just be glad you CAN bring your child out in public.
And IF she brings it up again, MAKE sure she knows that you CHECKED with the BOSS BOSS first. That you HAD permission.
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A
female
reader, chigirl  +, writes (28 March 2015):
 Talk to the manager?
But first of all take a check to see if you're actually doing the right thing, or if you just want revenge. So she gave you a speech that was rude. Does that mean you are justified in trying to cause drama and trouble?
If she HADN'T said anything to you about your son, would you have thought to say anything about hers anyway?
Check with yourself if this is a justifiable action, or just plan revenge. Because if it's plain revenge then take the high road and ignore what she said to you, and ignore her son. If you feel entitled to comment on it, I wouldn't take it as far as going to the manager with it, but rather talk to her in private like she talked to you and leave the business about your own son OUT OF IT.
So she's a bit of a rude bitch, so what. We meet those type of people in life, deal with it. Life is unfair, and people are idiots. Doesn't mean you'll make a difference by trying to cause payback, these people don't learn their lessons, and they might not even get punished at all. Your manager isn't your daddy and you and this supervisor aren't sisters fighting over a toy. You're adults, you need to fix your own problems. If you try to cause problems for her then it will probably just bite you in the ass. Just saying, I've seen how these things play out, and your BEST choice of action is to keep quiet and not say a word about it.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (28 March 2015): I personally would report her anonymously if you are worried about your job. You could even get away with it as it annoyed everyone else so anyone could have made the complaint, if you know what I mean.
Regardless of her seniority in the office she has no right to abuse this. Also there is a huge health & safety on this as her child could have hurt himself or someone else!
I had the mis fortune of working with someone, also in a senior position who abused their position. The woman would constantly have a go at anyone who ate at their desk - yet she would always eat - and even had the cheek to bring in a McDonald's & eat it at her desk after telling someone off for eating an apple!! She would go in the Internet which wasn't permitted to anyone & use the work phone for personal calls.., the list went on!
Everyone would complain to our manager but he never did anything so 1 day I took it upon myself to complain anonymously to the managing director & finally something was done & she left months later. Best thing I ever did!
Good luck.
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (28 March 2015): How dare she? She's the boss!!!
I'd just let it go. If you want to confront her about it, be sure you have another job waiting. She is in the position to set policy. You did disrupt the office. A polite nod to acknowledge your co-workers, and going about your business was all you needed to do.
You should have walked-in delivered your report, and walked out. You know the rules. Don't be angry toward her five year-old child, he's just a kid. Bosses get away with things that you can't. That's just the way it is.
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