One of those "is this actually happening?" moments (elaboration post #6)

[Adelaide]

So I was kickboxing yesterday at a dojo that has three main sections.  The sections are partitioned off by barriers, but one can look in and see all three-there are no doors dividing anything. All three sections were being used: one by the kids' Karate class, one by the adults' Taekwondo class, and the final one (in the very back) by my class.  We were doing pad drills, holding them for our partners and working on front kicks, and in between sets doing army crawls up and down the section, and other PT exercises. Now, people occasionally skirt the perimeter and have to enter each others' sections for various reasons, which they do by discreetly running behind the class that's going on. This may happen once or twice a class at most.

However, yesterday a man (parent of a karate kid) walked around the perimeter in the front of our section (in front of the mirrors) with a baby. Not that big of a deal deal, an exit door is in our section and we were clustered in the back half, at least 60 seconds (we were doing 60-second drills) away from spreading out and running up and down the section. But instead of going out the door, the man proceeds to set the baby down on the ground near the door and change its diaper. We were all staring at them in shock, and eventually our instructors turned around mid-sentence and say "Just keep going with the-uh....well then, okay..." and were derailed for a moment before we continued with class. It was was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen at the dojo. Literally no one knew what to say. I don't know if it'll ever happen again, but it was certainly so odd that we were all rendered speechless, even the instructors.

[Irishkitty]

  Are there no designated baby changing areas?
If not I can kind of see why he choose what he thought was an unoccupied place, and no risk of the baby falling as he's on the floor. But that's just weird. I'm guessing he just didn't realise that you were going to be changing what you were doing?

[TheVapors]

That's rather odd.

Is there not a bathroom in the dojo?

It sounds like he was looking for some kind of privacy, but just gave up the search and wound up changing a baby in front of an entire group of people anyways.

[Christabeldreams]

My flabber is quite ghasted! I agree with the above commenters, is there not a bathroom in the dojo? But, either way, his choice of location was strange to say the least. It's possible he didn't think it would cause such a commotion, though.

[O'Dell]

The thought of a baby being on the floor where there are kickboxing activities going on makes me nervous! I can see so many things going wrong there.

If there is a safer, more convenient place for diaper changing, I think even a student could have spoken up and pointed that out to him when they saw him laying the kid down. But yeah...there is that "is this happening?" factor going on.

[Twik]

I think for your next session, you need to practice a special move. All in unison, repeat the following: "Excuse me, you can't do that here. Please find somewhere else."

[Adelaide]

I didn't actually add the worst part-the ONLY bathrooms/dressing rooms are in our section. While the bathrooms are not very large (only have a sink/toilet areas with no counter space) there are four dressing rooms, each with twice as much floor space (and privacy) as the area by the door. I just can't fathom why he chose to plop his kid on the floor in the middle of class instead of trying one of the doors labelled "men" and "women" or going into the wide-open changing rooms.

[Msunderstatement]

Yes, anybody should have said "don't do that here."

The parent could have changed the baby in his car if there isn't a changing area. Assuming he come in one. (I can't imagine someone bringing his child and baby to the class without driving, though.)

The business personnel should have directed the parent to use the restroom or their office for that. The restroom should have enough room for wheelchairs according to law, which means they should have enough room to install a folding changing table or something.

[BeagleMommy]

I can't imaging what this person was thinking (or if he was thinking).  If he wasn't sure where the bathrooms were or if he could use the changing rooms....for pity's sake ask!

[Drawberry]

Wow, that seem's like a pretty dangerous scenario to willingly put your child into. Not to mention extremely unsanitary. I hope for the sake of the next class that the floors are cleaned every night.

[Adelaide]

Yes, anybody should have said "don't do that here."

The parent could have changed the baby in his car if there isn't a changing area. Assuming he come in one. (I can't imagine someone bringing his child and baby to the class without driving, though.)

The business personnel should have directed the parent to use the restroom or their office for that. The restroom should have enough room for wheelchairs according to law, which means they should have enough room to install a folding changing table or something.

He came in a car. I know of the parent in question, enough to know that he drove. As far as the business personnel, the dojo was shorthanded and the secretary was helping with the adults' taekwondo class, so the front desk was empty. Even if it wasn't she wouldn't have questioned him as he was walking back (as he might have been walking to get something/go to the bathroom/go out the back exit) and by the time he was in our section she wouldn't have been able to see him.  I think our instructors were just way too flabbergasted to say anything and too focused on our class.  And they could install a folding changing table, but it's never been an issue before-usually parents either don't stay for the kids' class or take care of stuff beforehand, as the classes are only either 30 minutes or an hour long. I understand that a baby absolutely has no control over its basic functions, but this hasn't ever happened before. 

And Sway, a student wouldn't have dared to say anything. We would have been given more PT or something and it's not really "our place" to say "please change your kid in a dressing room" especially when we were currently being given directions by our instructor. Drawberry, the floors are cleaned very well, there are all sorts of bodily fluids spilled all of the time. It's not really the ick factor (although that is present) it's the total lack of regard for a class and his personal safety/that of his child's. This is almost analogous to sitting in on your older child's college class while bringing your baby, and when the baby needs a diaper change going up to a front corner of the lecture room and changing it. (I say "almost" because I think most college professors would have instantly put a stop to it, though the students would have probably still kept their mouths shut).

[emwithme]

I visited an old school friend earlier this week, who I haven't seen in about 15 years.  She now has three children, aged 5, 3 and 4 months.  Her eldest had an after-school swimming lesson, so while he was swimming we (and the other parents and their children) went to wait in a spare room in the adjoining building (it was either this or wait in the changing room, no one is allowed to watch the lessons). 

The baby needed changing during this time (as babies do) and so my friend got a spare nappy (diaper) out of her change bag, and changed her daughter on her lap, popped the dirty nappy, used wipes etc in a nappy bag (which went back into the change bag) and then got out her hand sanitizer to clean her hands.  I commented on this (never seen anyone change a baby without even standing up!) and she said that her mum had shown her how to do this when her eldest was born because it makes more sense and less mess than getting out a changing mat etc.  She said that it particularly works with wriggly ones because you can kind of clamp their top between your knees so that they don't roll off (or into their own mess!)