It's time to admit that Take Your Child to Work Day is an outdated relic of 1970s feminism, and we can put the whole thing to rest.
Do you remember that the day started as Take Our Daughters to Work? It was the 70s, and women wanted their daughters to know that they could do anything. Here's what came of that era: Latchkey kids who never saw their parents after school except on Take Our Daughters to Work Day. And, then later, those same little girls grew up to feel intense pressure to put work before kids which ushered in the biggest fertility train wreck in history, with Gen X thinking it would be fine to wait until after 30 to have kids.
So I have a bad taste in my mouth from the era of Take Our Daughters to Work. But then we had the era of boys underperforming. That's right: Boys are doing so much worse than girls in school that it's officially easier to get into college if you're a boy (scores are lower and so are GPAs) and once these kids enter the workforce, girls make more than boys do.
So some probably-drumming, angry, white male decided that it shouldn't just be daughters. It should be sons, too. So now we have Take Your Child to Work.
But here's what I want to know: Why?
This holiday now strikes me as one similar to Secretaries Day, which is a relic from the days when there were no computers and secretaries had thankless jobs and the men who were having sex with them on the side always forgot to thank her in the spotlight for the typing, so there is an official reminder day to buy her a card. That made sense. Twenty years ago.
Which is why it reminds me of Take Your Child to Work Day.
You know what else reminds me of this special day? The Week of the Young Child. Seriously. It was last week. Did you celebrate? Of course you did. Because every week is the week of the young child, because if you don't focus on young children they die. They eat bleach or get bitten by a squirrel or run over by a car.
The reason the Week of the Young Child reminds me of Take Your Child to Work Day is because, at this point, every day is taking children to work. I'm on my Blackberry all the time, and my division between work and kids is very tenuous. This is pretty common for my generation. And I think we're pretty happy with it — or we'd stop. So it's pretty clear to me that we don't need a day for kids being at work because they get exposed to their parents working all the time.
And anyway, do you know how annoying kids are for people who do not have kids? It's already totally over the top how many concessions people with kids get vs. people without kids. My cousin, for example, is a doctor, and when her colleague went on maternity leave early, my cousin was asked to cover for her because everyone in the practice has kids except for my cousin. This is routine behavior in corporate life (I know — I benefit from it all the time at my own company where I'm the only one with kids.)
So what we don't need is a day when people’s kids come into the office, disrupt everyone, eat all the good snacks and use up all the good office supplies. The disruption serves little purpose except to remind people without kids that kids are the center of the universe.
So I think this holiday is BS, and kids understand that they can be anything they want to be, so I don't see a point in dragging them to work. Which is why I didn't.
I ignored the holiday last year. And when I picked my son up at school, he said, “It's Take Children to Work Day. Are you taking me to your work?”
I say, “What? How do you know it's that day? Who told you?”
“My teachers brought their children to school because school is their work.”
What? Is this legal? My kids are in Madison, WI public schools. Surely it is not legal for teachers to bring their own kids into the classroom.
But before I can decide what to do about this, my son says, “I want to go to your work.”
How can I say no? I try to think of a way, believe me. But I don't have the heart.
The problem is that there is nothing in my office. Just some books.
So I buy a bunch of cookies from the coffee shop across the street from my office, and I borrow the white board from Photis and magic markers from Ryan Paugh. And my son draws on the board in between bites of cookies.
He says, “Take Your Child to Work Day is boring, let's go home.”
Maybe this is a victory.
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Penelope
It’s obvious that none of you even really understand what the day is supposed to be about so you cheat your kids, your co-workers, and other children in your life out of an experience that could help shape their future. It’s not a day for 3 year olds or playpens. It was meant for kids age 8-17; a plan for the day is supposed to be set; they don’t just stay with their parent but they learn about the company you work for and how it fits into society; they then have a school assignment related to how they spent the day.
We have over 80 kids come to our surgical center and they have activities set up for 9am-2pm which include- learning about blood pressures, temps, heart rates and why those numbers are important, they learn about medical records and actually put together one for themselves as they go to the different stations throughout the day; they can have a cast put on, go into the OR and learn about what each person does in the OR, First Aid, they play with our scope s and get pictures taken with them, they learn how to take a BP and what their heart rate looks like on a monitor; they have time to do art projects that we set up, the fire dept comes and lets the kids play on the truck, and the list goes on. They go home exhausted and it promotes a more cohesive work environment.
It sounds like the biggest barrier to making it work for your people is your horrible attitudes and blatant dislike for the path you chose in life. With that said, it’s probably better your kids don’t go to work with you- failure isn’t much fun to witness.
Posted by Melanie O'Shea-Chaparro on November 18, 2010 at 9:40 pm | permalink |
I do not like it either I agree with Corrine. They should just do away with this day..
Posted by jay on May 24, 2011 at 8:10 am | permalink |
You are an idiot.
Posted by Hillaryc on November 10, 2011 at 6:23 pm | permalink |
I find the article very narrowed minded. I have two sons and my husband plans to take one to his work and I will take the other. Each of our companies have activities and presentations planned for the children. I think it is a great opportunity for children to not only see where their parents work, but what they do and have an opportunity to meet the people they work with and interact with on a daily basis. I think it is also a great day for children to be exposed to other positive role models. I was a stay-at-home Mom for the past 11 years and just recently re-entered the work force, so my children have had the benefit of both worlds. I think this will be a great opportunity for my son’s to see what potential there is for their future. They are excited and looking foward to it.
Posted by Mitze on April 18, 2012 at 7:14 am | permalink |
Idiotic. Have you looked out the window? Still a man’s world. It’s not something to leave behind/in the past, it plays out in the present. If I bring my daughter to work, it’s not to show her that I can do anything, it’s to show her SHE can. Our daughters are enslaved by bullying, peer pressure, media. If they do away with the day, it will be to saveon lost productivity, nothing to do with advancement that doesn’t involve stepping on eachother to get anywhere.
Posted by S on April 23, 2012 at 4:35 pm | permalink |
To add, if all she remembers is that we stopped for ice cream during lunch, my daughter will have seen mommy moving, shaking, trying. I will have seen my kid, who I’m bitter over having worked to pay others to be with, she will have seen a part of my life, and my boss will have seen a part of my life. Who would put a negative spin on that?
Posted by S on April 23, 2012 at 4:47 pm | permalink |
Penelope – I read your blog all of the time, but I did not see this post from a few years ago until today. Today is Bring Your Child To Work Day 2012. My two boys came home and told me about the day earlier this week and begged me to take them to work. I had no idea this “holiday” was today and was annoyed that my kids came home from school telling me about it. I am a full-time working mom who is the primary breadwinner for my family. I could not agree with your sentiments in this post more. I commend you for breaking down and bringing your son to work. I did not. So, I will sit here today and feel guilty and like a horrible parent. Stop the madness on this ridiculous holiday!!
Posted by Traci Wheeler on April 26, 2012 at 8:50 am | permalink |