Take Our Children to Work Day

Tomorrow is Take Our Children to Work Day! Started in 1993 as “Take Your Daughter to Work Day,” the day has been expanded to include boys as well in 2003. According to Forbes, about 37 million people participate each year. What a great way to show our children what it is that we do at work each day! If you are planning on taking your son or daughter to work with you tomorrow, here are a few tips to make the day a success:

• Don’t feel that you have to take your own son or daughter. You can take someone else’s if your kids are too young (the day is recommended for kids ages 8 through 18) or if they’re not interested. If you have a young neighbor, niece, nephew or other friend or relative, feel free to invite him or her along. Another option is to ask at your local child advocacy center to see if you might be able to bring along one or more disadvantaged children. (You may need a background check ahead of time; if this is the case, keep it in mind for next year!)

• Ask your employer if there are any events or activities going on for the day. If your organization often expects several or many children, they have likely planned something special.

• Keep in mind what sort of atmosphere you work in. If it’s likely to be unsafe for them, chances are that your employer will forbid bringing children in anyway, but use your best discretion if it’s allowed.

• Plan ahead. Have some idea of what you would like your child to do while he is with you tomorrow. Depending on his age, you might have him meeting important people within your organization, filing reports, sitting in on meetings, going with you on errands or a host of other possibilities. Don’t just walk in and expect things to fall into place; think about what you’ll have your child doing. Even better, ask for his input: What does he want to see or do? Who does he want to meet?

• Give your child some direction. If she’s young, or even if she’s not so young, make sure that you talk about your expectations as far as behavior. Brush up on her social skills; make sure she knows that she should shake hands with your colleagues and supervisors, and that she needs to stay with you in order to avoid getting lost or wandering into an unsafe area.

• Contact your child’s teacher ahead of time, if possible, to let her know what your child is doing. The absence should be excused, and some schools will have special programs on Friday or next week for kids to do a presentation about their day. If not, it’s still a good idea to call the teacher so that your child doesn’t fall behind and can have his work done when he returns to class on Friday.

Take Our Children to Work Day is a great time to spend quality time with your child, to introduce her to what it is, exactly, that you do all day, and to get her thinking about her future.

If you take your child to work, let us know how it went!