Lots of pregnancy/motherhood/mommy questions lately!
One of my coworkers recently came back from maternity leave and has decided that she’s comfortable enough with me to park herself in my office, close the door, and pump away, all the while chatting with me. (We do have a “mother’s room” set up, so it’s not like she doesn’t have a place to go). It’s awkward, to say the least. I’m a mother too, so it’s not so much grossing me out, but very intrusive. Not to mention distracting! I don’t really need to see that.
But as a new mother, I get that she wants to chat with someone about it, and she probably feels like she is making good use of her time/killing 2 birds with one stone. I like her and consider her a friend, so how do I address myself this without making it a big deal and taking it to HR, after which it would become a “thing”?
Whoa. That’s a lot of personal space intrusion. I would pick a time she wasn’t pumping in your office, maybe out at lunch or somewhere neutral to tell her that it’s distracting when she pumps in front of you, and if she could do it in the appointed room. Meanwhile, you’d be happy to take her to lunch to celebrate her new motherhood and discuss any new mommy/work chat/etc she might have. And that meanwhile, you’d love to look at as many baby pics as she can send, just not her boobs!
CrazyManagerPerson 