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Take Your Kids to Work Day

Research shows that there are MANY excellent reasons to take your child to work (or have them spend the day with you in your home “office”). Here are a few to shed some light on why pulling back the cover to what you “do,” actually matters.

In my family, we still laugh about the time my young son told his buddies that his mom was “a coworker.” At the time, I was working in the hospital - a place my son understood to be full of doctors and nurses. But I was neither of those. A social worker? Nope. No traction. Someone who works on the team to take care of patients? Boom. A “coworker.” Did it matter that my son did not officially recognize my title (maybe to my wallet after paying for those very expensive diplomas)? Not really. My son spent the day with me at work and LOVED every minute of it. He LOVED being a co-worker. He helped people, held a clipboard, typed notes, attended meetings, got to spin in wheely chairs, met great people, saw LOTS of newborns…and left convinced he did NOT want to be a coworker when he grew up. Success? Definitely.

What my son did see that day were some of the benefits of working that we want our children to be exposed to. And lessons learned through experience - the way children learn best - are more likely to stick with children as they grow.

1. Passion. Watching adults at work exposes children to a new side of this grownup they have been studying since birth. Mom bossing around someone other than you? Dad taking directions from others? Uncle Henry facing problems? Aunt Jenny laughing with grownups? The opportunities are endless. One thing that is hopefully universal, is grownups showing passion and skill in the work they do. Our children benefit from seeing that we have interests and lives outside of the family, that other people and roles in our lives bring us happiness, and that we exist in a way other than what we do for them.
2. Diversity. Children can’t often imagine a career in something they have never witnessed or studied. What do all the people in a hospital actually do? Spending time observing the workplace can help children to see all of the many (invisible) moving parts in a business or work environment, and learn about new and different opportunities for career paths in their future. What is a job that uses math (or avoids it), what gets you to travel or make speeches? Learning about who thrives in what job is an important way to help children to understand diversity in all of us and our careers.
3. Value. Appreciating education, training and plain hard work doesn’t always come naturally. But, watching or listening to someone who “knows their stuff” is inspiring. How did they get there? Training and education. When your kids are down on homework, classwork, and the amount of information they don’t know, seeing how adults use information to do cool things can help. It can also help to bridge the distance between school and actually using what you’ve learned as a grownup.
4. Problems. It’s rare that everything on a work day goes smoothly. There are usually roadblocks - like a missed meeting, an impending deadline, a crisis somewhere in the pipeline - and each is an opportunity for your child to see you (and others) problem solve, negotiate, and hopefully find compromise. This real life training can promote problem solving skills, cognitive flexibility and other aspects of executive functioning that are essential for development.
5. Quality. We know that time spent with YOU matters. And moments throughout the day - teaching your child how to raise and lower that chair, coaching them on answering the phone (this is a lost skill thanks to cell phones and so fun for children to learn), or eating lunch together - can add up to some meaningful quality time.
6. Gratitude. Knowing how hard you work to pay for the daily activities of life can promote a sense of gratitude. Research shows that talking about money - both how it is earned and how it is spent - improves children’s financial literacy in adulthood.